CIHM 

Microfiche 

Series 

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iCMH 

Collection  de 

microfiches 

(monographies) 


Canadian  Instituta  for  Hiatorical  Microraproductiona  / 


Inatitut  Canadian  da  microraproductlona  hiatoriquM 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


Tha  InttHule  has  attempttd  to  obtain  tha  bast  original 
copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this  copy  which 
niay  ba  bibliographicatly  unique,  which  may  alter  any  of 
tha  imagas  in  tha  raproduetion,  or  which  may 
significantly  change  the  usual  method  of  filming  are 
checi(ed  below. 


Coloured  covers  / 
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□ Covers  damaged  / 
Couverture  endommag#e 

□ Covers  restored  and/or  laminated  / 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pellicul£e 

I  .Cover title  missing /LetBiede couverture  manque 


C^oured  maps  /  Cartes  gtographiqucs  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)  / 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  n^e) 


□ Cotoured  plates  and/or  illustrations  / 
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Seule  MNton  disponible 

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Interior  ma^in  /  La  reKwe  serrie  peut  causer  de 
i'ombre  ou  de  la  distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intirieure. 

□ Blank  leaves  added  during  restorations  may  appear 
within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these  have  been 
ondtted  from  filming  /  N  se  peut  que  certaines  pages 
blanches  ajout^es  lors  d'une  restauration 
apparalssent  dans  le  texte,  mais,  lorsque  cela  4tait 
possH)le.  ces  pages  n'orrt  pas  M  filmtes. 

□ Addittonal  comments  / 
Commentaires  supptfmcntaircs: 


L'Institut  a  microfilmi  la  meiiieur  exemplaire  qu'il  lui  a 
iM  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details  de  cat  exem* 
plaire  qui  sont  peut*£tre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bB)8- 
ogrspMque,  qui  peuverrt  mo(Wier  une  image  reproduite, 

ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  modification  dans  la  mitho* 
de  normale  de  filmage  sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 

I    I  Coloured  pagM/Pagea  da  couleur 

I    I  Pages  damaged/ Pages  endommagiea 

□ Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurtfes  et/ou  peffieuMes 

Phges  discotoured,  stained  or  foxed  / 
Pagea  dtcolortfas,  tadiatiea  ou  piqutes 

I    I  Pages  detached  /  Pages  d^lach^es 

Showthrough  /Transparence 

□ Quality  of  print  varies  / 
QuaSt*  in^gale  de  rbnpression 

□ includes  supplementaiy  material  / 
Comprend  du  matiriel  siq^menlaire 

J  y(  Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  bv  ^ ff  ic  <>i^, 
I — '  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to  eiii-,^.  ihe  best 
possible  image  /  Les  pages  tota  br  .cnt  ou 
partieHement  obscwcies  par  un  feuillet  d'ci  3c.  ui,  une 
pelure,  etc.,  ont  €i6  film^es  k  nouveau  da  fafon  k 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 

□ Opposing  pages  with  varying  colouration  or 
discotourations  are  filmed  twice  to  ensure  the  best 
possble  Image  /  Les  pages  s'on)osant  ayant  des 

colorations  variables  ou  des  decolorations  sont 
tilmies  deux  fois  afin  d'obtenir  la  meilleure  iniage. 
possibte. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduetim  ratto  checked  below  / 
€•  deeinncnt  ttt       au  taux  da  rMwliofi  Indlqui  ci*deiSMt. 

10x  14x   llx  22x    26x  30x 

I   I   I   I   I   I  I  I  I  M  I   I  I   I  I  I  l~rT- 

12x  18x  20x  24x  28x  32x 


Th«  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

ItotloMi  Library  of  Canada 

This  title  was  microfilmed  with  the  generous 
penrnlssion  of  the  rights  holder: 

David  H.  Strlngar 


L'  exemplaire  film«  fut  reproduit  grAce  k  la 
g^n^rosit^  de: 

BtbllatMqiM  MtfonaU  du  Canada 

Ce  litre  a  6X6  microfilm^  avec  I'aimable  autorisation 
du  d^tenteur  des  droits: 

David  H.  Strlngar 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility  of 
the  original  copy  and  in  Iteeping  with  the  filming 
contract  specifications. 

Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on  the 
last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impression,  or 
the  bac\i  cover  when  appropriate.  All  other  original 
copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the  first  page  with  a 
printed  or  illustrated  impression,  and  ending  on  the 
last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  -♦(meaning  "CONTINUED"),  or 
the  symbol  ▼  (meaning  "END"),  whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed  begin- 
ning in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and 
top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6\6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et  de 
la  nettet*  de  rexemplaire  filmA.  et  en  conformity 
avec  les  conditions  du  contra!  de  f  Hmage. 

Les  exemptaires  origlnaux  dont  la  couverture  en 

papier  est  imprimde  sont  film^s  en  comment  ant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
demi6re  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte  d'im- 
pression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second  plat, 
selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires  origln- 
aux sont  f  ilm68  en  comnr»n?ant  par  la  premiere 
page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte  d'impression  ou 
d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par  la  derni^re  page 
qui  comporte  une  telle  empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaltra  sur  la 
demiire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas: 
le  symbole  -»  signifie  "A  SUIVRE".  le  symbols  ▼ 
signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  §tre 
fiim^s  h  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents.  Lorsque 
le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre  reproduit  en 
un  seul  cliche,  il  est  film^  k  partir  de  Tangle 
sup^rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  h  droite,  et  de  haut 
en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre  d 'images 
ndcesFaire.  Les  diagranrwnes  suivants  iltustrent  la 
m^thode. 


1 


MOOCOPY  RESOLUTION  TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


^     /APPLIED  IIVMGE  li 


16S3  East  Main  Street 

Rochester,  ^4ew  York      14609  USA 

(716)  482  -  0300  -  PtMMW 

(71»)  288  -  5989  -  Fox 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


THE 

DOOR  OF  DREAD 

A  S§cra  Sirvic$  Romance 

N 

MTHUIt  STRINGER 


UEONE  BRACKEJl 


i>n:K»AifAi*ous 
TMI  *K^MKEEILL  COMPANY 


THE 

DOOR  OF  DREAD 

A  Secret  Service  Romance 
By 

ARTHUR  STRINGER 


If.  LEON£  fiRACKEU 


INDIANAPOLIS 

TBI  BOnS-lfBRULL  COMPANY 


To 

My  Old  Friend 

Arthur  MacFarlane 
In  Memory  of  Our 
Attic 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


CHAPTER  ONE 

"TT  THAT'S  yoar  namer 

V  V     "Sadie  Wimpd/* 

"And  your  home?'' 

"Anywhere  under  me  hat  I" 

The  heavy-jowled  man  with  th-  incongruously 
alert  side-glance  looked  up  across  the  polished  desk- 
top. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"That  me  home's  mostly  where  I  happen  to  be." 

He  studied  her  with  an  eye  as  wistful  as  an  old 
hound's  eye  in  winter.  She  looked  as  ctooper  and 
neat,  in  her  trim-cut  tailor-made  gown,  as  a  well 
groomed  polo  pony.  And  under  her  neatness  of 
limb  was  a  suggestion  of  strength,  and  under  her 
strength  a  trace  of  audacity,  and  under  that  audacity 
a  toudi  of  restivenras. 

"Have  you  ever  been  in  Europe  ?" 

"Surer 


1 


2  JHE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD. 


"About  an  over  the  lot/'  was  the  languid  re- 
ipoiue. 
"I  asked  you  where  f*' 

"Wen,  Odessa,  Budapest,  Palermo,  Petersburg, 
Rome,  the  Riviera,  P^u^  Ostend,  Amsterdam, 
the  " 

"ThtstH  dor  cut  in  the  man  at  the  deslc. 

"Quite  some  little  pilgrim,  ain't  I?"  the  trim-fig 
ored  young  woman  in  the  Bendel  hat  had  the  ef- 
f  rontety  to  ask. 

Tlw  man  at  the  desk  fingmred  a  paper-weight 
fashioned  from  an  old  coin-die  of  the  Philadelphia 
Mint 

"Supposing  you  teU  me  What  you  know  about 
this  Fletcher  report  leak,"  he  quietly  suggested. 

There  was  a  rustle  of  siUc  as  Sadie  Wimpel 
cro»ed  htr  knees. 

"Admirl  Fletcher  roped  out  a  Navy  report  show- 
in'  how  and  why  a  foreign  fleet  could  land  in  the 
United  States.  Sen'tor  Lodge  s'bmitted  that  report 
to  the  Senate.  But  before  doin'  it  he  told  'em  the 
report  ouj^t  *o  be  printed  in  confidence,  as  they 
put  it,  and  the  motion  was  carried.  Secrct'ry  Dan- 
ids,  yuh  see,  didn't  want  any  foreign  guy  gettitf 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


next  to  the  data  in  that  rqwt  It'd  be  like  adm. 

tisin'  your  safe-combinattcm  to  ** 
"I  know  all  that" 

"Well,  there  was  a  certain  foreign  guy  got  hold 

o'  that  report." 
"Who  was  it?" 

"A  capper  for  KeuddL" 
"But  who?" 

"The  same  capper  that  got  hold  of  our  aectet  iig^ 
nal  code  book  from  the  destrojrer  HiOl  last  taranier." 

"How  do  you  know  that?^ 

"B'cause  I'm  a  friend  of  a  friend  of  a  friend  of 
the  boob  of  an  ensign  who-«sve  up  tii^  book  and 
faced  a  court-martial  for  it,  a  lew:  :weekt  ago^  on 
the  Oregon/* 

"Where  was  the  Oregon  when  that  court^iarttal 

.was  held?" 

"Anchored  in  San  Francisco  Bay,**  yna  the  girl's 

answer. 

For  a  moment  or  two  Chief  Blynn  of  the  Secret 
Service  stared  out  of  the  broad  window  of  the 
Treasury  Building.  Jost  beyond  that  window  was 
the  Washington  Motwrnent,  and  bdnad  that  tbt 
Bureau  of  Ei^vii^  and  Prinlhig,  where  ^  dte- 
tric  devaton  were  rkhig  and  d^iag  ^ 


4  THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


afternoon  crowds,  and  into  B  Street  was  swarm- 
ing a  motley  throng  of  designers  and  engravers  and 
plate-printers,  side  by  side  with  stitchers  and  count- 
ers and  sizers,  with  steel-press  men  and  bull-gangers 
and  oil-burners  from  the  Ink  Mill,  all  hurrying 
homeward  after  the  day's  work.  They  were  part 
of  a  machinery  which  took  on  a  touch  of  nobility 
because  of  its  labyrinthine  intricateness,  because  of 
its  sheer  unguessed  complexities.  Yet  they  were  a 
mere  company  in  that  vast  army  which  Chief  Blynn 
and  his  agents  were  appointed  both  to  appraise  and 
protect.  And  they  brought  home  to  the  haggard- 
eyed  official  so  meditatively  watching  them  a  hint 
of  the  more  immediate  complications  confronting 
him. 

"You  said  you'd  done  Secret  Service  work  be- 
fore?" he  askeJ,  as  he  turned  back  to  the  girl. 
"Yes." 
"Where?" 
"In  Europe." 
"Anywhere  else?" 
"Right  here  in  America." 
"For  whom?" 
"Foryuh!" 

The  chief  looked  ponderously  up  from  the  pi^eft 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  $ 

in  which  he  had  pretended  to  be  so  pertmadously 
interested.  It  was  an  old  trick  of  the  chiefs,  that 
of  masking  his  mental  batteries  behind  aa  etcat|». 

ment  of  manuscripts. 
"Then  why  haven't  I  a  record  of  that  work?" 
guess  you  didn't  know  I  was  doin*  it" 

"Why?" 

"Because  I  was  actin'  for  Kestner." 

"Of  the  Paris  office?" 

"Yes." 

"And  with  anybody  else?" 
The  girl  hesitated, 

'*Yes;  with  young  Wilsna»*  as  well." 

The  chief  glanced  down  at  his  pages  of  script 

"On  what  case?" 

"The  Lambert  counterfeitin*  case." 

•Then  why  aren't  you  still  acting  with  Kestner?" 

"Because  he's  quittin'  the  Service." 

"Who  told  you  that?" 

"Wflsnach." 

'Ttees  Wilsnach  tell  you  everything  he  knows?" 
Sadie  Wimpel  uncrossed  her  knees. 
"Not  by  a  long  shot!" 

"But  working  together  that  way,  the  two  of  yoa 
naturally  became  more  or  less  confidtotial?" 


6  THE  DCX)R  OF.  DREAP 


A  lUght  ilmh  ahowcd  under  tiw  rioe-powder  en 
the  woman's  fopliistictted  young  f aee. 

"I  wu  wiae  to  Kettner's  duddn'  the  buggy  long 
before  Wibnadi  ever  opened  his  peep  about  it" 

'^ow  did  that  happenr 

'3'canse  I  knew  the  skirt  who  was  cannin'  his 
purfessk»1  chances  by  manyin'  him.** 

Does  narriage  always  do  that?" 

"When  a  skwth  settles  down  it  ain't  wise  to  stadc 
bo  high  on  him  stayin'  the  curiy  wdf  o'  the  singed- 
cat  crib.** 

The  duel  pusded  for  a  momeni  or  two  ever  this 
i^parently  enigmatic  statement. 

'TThen  it's  Wilsnadi  you  want  lo  swing  in  witH 
en  this  new  work?" 

"Not  if  I  have  to  crowhar  me  way  into  it" 

"But  why  are  you  so  sure  you  can  help  the  Serv- 
ice out  in  this  case?" 

1  never  said  I  wanted  to  hdp  the  Service  out" 

"Then  what  do  you  want  to  do?" 

"I  want  'o  see  >^msnadi  n^ke  good." 

For  just  a  nxmient  a  smile  flidcered  about  tiie 
face  of  the  pendulous-jowled  man  at  the  desk.  It 
made  the  watdiing  giri  think  of  heat-lightning  along 
an  August  ^-line. 


THE  POOR  09:  DRIAD  7 

"But  how  do  you  know  Wiltnach  ii  goiqg  to  bt 

put  on  this  .^asc  ?" 

"Because  he's  the  only  num  yuh've  got  who  can 

round  up  that  gang." 

Again  a  meditative  silence  feU  over  the  man  at 
the  desk.  Then  he  threw  aside  his  pose  of  hostility, 
as  a  man  makes  ready  for  work  ty  throwing  off  hit 
coat. 

"Sadie,  how  old  are  you?"  he  quickly  inquired. 
"Good  nightr  was  the  girl't  grimly  evadvt  an- 
swer. 

"You  said  your  name  was  Win^  Haf»  m 

any  other?" 

"None  worth  mentionin'." 

"You  mean  you're  not  a  marriad  WMnaa?^ 

"Not  on  your  life!" 
"And  never  were?" 

A  shadow  crossed  the  pert  young  face  under  the 
Bendel  hat. 

"Me  for  the  single  harness  I"  she  announced,  with 
a  shrug. 

He  sat  pondering  her  for  a  silent  moment  or  twa 
"What  nationality  are  you  ?" 
"Come  again,"  said  the  puzzled  girl 
"Are  you  a  good  American?" 


8  THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


1  won't  ganiUe  on  the  'good.*  But  ain't  bdn 
jvtt  Anorkui  about  enough  in  times  like  these?" 

"It's  enough  f  acknowledged  the  nun  at  the  desk 
with  a  sigh. 

**BvA  what  I  wanted  to  get  at  is,  where  did  youi 
parents  come  from?" 
"Me  mother  was  Irish." 
"And  your  lather?" 
"Seaith  mer 

The  dew-lapped  head  moved  slowly  up  and  down 
Then  came  still  another  moment  of  silence. 

'^ow,  Sadie,  there's  a  door  you're  keeping  shut 
between  the  two  of  us." 

"A  door?"  ectoed  the  girl. 

Tes,  a  door  that  you  don't  seem  willing  to  open ; 
a  door  that  seeiis  to  lead  out  on  other  days."  He 
raised  a  heavy  hand  at  the  flash  of  ahum  in  het 
wide-open  young  eyes.  **But  I'm  gofaig  to  let  that 
door  stay  shut,  my  girl;  for  as  long  as  it  stays  that 
way  it  needn't  count  with  either  one  of  us." 

**I  don't  quite  get  yuh,"  murmured  the  not  alto- 
fether  tranqiA  young  woman.  "And  what's  the 
game,  anyway,  wif  all  this  third-degiee  stuff?" 

'^ve  I  seemed  too  inquisitive?" 

"No-<H«>!  But  yfhea  yuh  get  me  thumb-prints 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD  9 

and  me  weight,  tub-siife,  jruhH  jnift  about  havt  mt 

record,  won't  yuh  ?" 

The  chief  smiled  u  he  beat  orer  the  pi^en  in 

front  of  him. 

"My  dear  girl,  we've  had  yoor  record  hen  for 
the  last  five  years.  That's  part  of  our  bathieM.'' 

"Hully  gee  I"  said  the  girl,  stiffening  in  the  chair 
where  she  sat.  Then,  furrowing  her  yoonf  brow, 
she  craned  apprehensively  about  at  the  ittrimfaffttiny 
sheets  of  closely-written  script 

"But  that's  not  the  point,  Sadie,"  pufmed  her 
inquisitor.  "The  point  it  that  you're  a  lemarfcably 
Clever  young  woman." 

Sadie  Wimpel,  under  her  rioei»wder,  turned 

promptly  and  visibly  pink. 

"Aw,  Chief,  cut  out  the  con!" 

"But  I  mean  it."  The  girl  shook  her  head. 

"I'm  a  mutt  and  I  know  it.  And  I've  been  at 
nervous  as  a  cat  since  I  breezed  in  here,  for  when 
yuh  swivel-chair  boys  throw  a  scare  into  me  I  flop 
straight  back  to  me  Eight'  Ward  talk.  But  phst 
me  outside  wif  the  hotel  broads  and  I  can  puO  the 
s'':iety  stuff  so's  Ida  Vcmoo'd  look  like  aa  alto- 
ran!" 

"you're  not  only  clever,  Sadie,  but  you'ie  attiact- 


10         TH£  DOOK  or,  DREAD 

ive.  You're  young  and  you're  good  to  look  at.  And 
the  fact  that  you're  a  distinct  deviation  from  type 
makes  you  especially  valuable  for  the  >irork  jve're 
going  to  lay  out  for  you." 

A  secretarial-looking  young  man  in  glasses  en- 
tered the  room  and  stepped  softly  to  the  chief's  desk. 
There  he  murmured  a  discreet  word  or  two  and  as 
softly  left  the  room.  Chief  Blynn's  hand  went  out 
and  touched  a  buzzer-button  on  his  desk-end.  In- 
significant as  that  movement  was,  the  girl's  quick 
eye  detected  a  valedictory  note  in  it. 

"Then  yuh're  goin'  to  ginune  that  work?"  she 
asked  as  she  rose  to  her  feet. 

"That  depends  on  your  friend  Kestner." 

"Where  does  Kestner  cwme  in?" 

"He  comes  in  through  that  door  in  two  minutes. 
He  and  Wilsnach,  in  fact,  are  waiting  out  thert  to 
talk  this  case  over  with  me." 

"So  Wilsnach's  there  tool*"  taid  the  girl,  ttaring 
at  th?  door. 

"Yes,  Sadie;  but  I've  go!  to  deny  you  the  pleas- 
ure of  seeing  him.  I  want  you  to  step  out  this  other 
way,  and  go  straight  back  to  your  room  at  the  Ral- 
eigh. Then  I  want  you  to  wait  there  until  I  call  you 
up.   And  to-night  after  dinner  either  Shrubb  or 


.THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD|  1% 

BrubKfaer  wfll  cone  and  explain  just  what  has  to 
be  doner 

The  heavjMwdied  wan  was  on  his  feet  by  this 
tiro^pitotinghertemafd  Aedoor  onthe  far  side 
oftheroonL  But  the  giri  hnng^back  for  a  moment. 

•Tlicre'.  Jnrt  one  Amg,  Chief."  she  ventured, 
with  a  haod^iovenient  toward  the  written  sheets  on 
the  desk-tofiL  ''Have  yuh  gotta  put  Wilsnach  wise 
to  aUtiiat  dope  &et«r 
•Whaidoper 

"Aboof  me  blaelE  vebet  fastr 
ThediiellaqiM. 

•Thafa  aa  opeiathe's  report  on  the  Warren 
P«*rf-«wigi?iiig  case,**  he  explained.  "But  in  the 
matter  of  that  door  I  happened  to  mention,  I  said 
it  would  stay  dint,  Sadie,  and  shut  it  stays!" 

"I  get  yah  r  die  announced,  as  she  passed  out  of 
the  nooL  But  flippant  as  her  words  were,  there 
remained  in  them  a  tremulotts  note  of  gratitude. 

Chief  %nn  swung  about,  stiU  smiling,  as  the 

<>oor  on  the  opposfte  side  of  iflie  room  opened.  The 
next  momctti  be  was  shaldng  hands  with  Kestncr 
and  Wilsaach  of  the  Paris  office. 

•TCestner.-  the  head  of  the  Service  said  as  he  suik 
into  his  swivd^hair,  *1  want  you  to  come  tadt." 


12         JHE  DOOR  of:  DREAD 


"My  fighting  days  are  over,"  announced  the  man 
who  had  said  good-by  to  the  Service.  Yet  he  looked 
with  no  unfriendly  glance  at  the  ponderous  face  in 
which  was  set  the  shrewdest  pair  of  eyes  he  had  ever 
stared  into. 

"Then  make  this  your  Tast  fight,"  almost  pleaded 
the  official,  who  plainly  was  not  greatly  given  to  pe- 
titioning for  favors. 

"Try  the  younger  men,"  Kestner  smilingly  sug- 
gested. "Give  Wilsnach  here  a  chance  on  the  case." 

The  man  from  the  Paris  ofiice  shifted  a  little  un- 
easily. 

"Wilsnach  was  on  the  case  for  a  week,"  explained 
the  chief,  "and  yesterday  he  asked  me  to  wire  for 
you." 

There  was  open  reproof  in  Kestner's  glance  at 
his  colleague  of  other  days. 

"Wilsnach  knows  I  came  to  America  for  quite 
another  purpose,"  he  explained;  "for  the  somewhat 
personal,  though  trifling,  purpose  of  getting  mar- 
ried." 

"My  dear  fellow,  by  all  means  get  married,"  be- 
gan the  man  at  the  desk.  "Bui — " 

"But  at  once  tear  off  on  a  beagle-chase  around  the 
world  after  some  verminous  criminal  with  a  weak- 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAQ  13 

ness  for  ten-cent  becMiottses  and  traveling  steer- 
age r 

"This  chase  win  not  take  you  out  of  America," 
corrected  Chief  Blynn,  "Jhat  much  I  can  guaran- 
tee." 

"But  it  win  take  me  out  of  my  club  and  my  newer 
way  of  kx)king  at  things,"  explained  the  patient- 
eyed  Kestner.  "You  see,  I  seem  to  be  developing  a 
sort  of  philosophic  sense  of  humor,  and  that  leads 
to  self-criticisra,  and  that  in  turn  keeps  whispering 
to  me  that  gunMhoeing  and  gray  hairs  don't  always 
go  well  together  r 

"So  mhat  yoo  want  is  peace  with  honor,  the  same 
as  the  rest  of  this  country  that's  sleeping  on  a  vol- 
canor 

Tve  had  eaoa^  of  the  volcano,  at  any  lai  %" 
"Wdl,  for  a  famUy  man  who's  tired  of  eruptions, 
I  shonkl  think  an  embassy  secretaryship,  say  Rome 
for  ten  nKMiths,  then  London  for  a  year,  and  then 
one  of  the  quieter  Continental  Embassies  itself, 
JwouW  be  just  about  the  right  thing  to  keep  the  rust 
off." 

^ntner  tmrned  and  eyed  the  older  man;  but  that 
older  man  disregarded  his  stare. 
•*This  isn't  k>08e  taflc,  Kestner.  We  can't  expect 


14 


THE  POOR  of;  dread 


you  to  come  back  without  making  it  worth  while  for 
you.  But  you  know  the  way  things  stand  with  the 
Administration.  You  know  the  Navy  people  can't 
afford  to  let  much  more  of  their  stuff  get  out  And 
when  you  land  your  people  you'll  get  your  post 
That's  as  sure  as  taxes  and  death  1" 

"You  could  do  it  inside  of  a  month,"  prompted 
the  bland-eyed  Wilsnach. 

"There  are  occasions,"  said  the  solemn-eyed  Kest- 
ner,  "when  a  month  may  seem  a  very  long  nace  of 
time." 

"Isn't  an  ambassadorship  sometimes  worth  three 
or  four  weeks  of  waiting?"  inquired  the  man  at  the 
desk.  "I  know  a  few  guys  who've  worked  twenty 
years  for  'em  I" 

"But  I'm  not  working  for  ambassadorships." 

"D'  you  mean  you  don't  even  vxmi  one?"  was  the 
somewhat  acidulated  inquiry. 

"It's  a  great  honor,  and  a  great  opportunity,"  ac- 
knowledged Kestner.  "But  when  I  work  for  my 
country  I  don't  do  it  ytith  one  hand  in  the  pork- 
barrel!" 

The  chief's  gesture  was  one  of  heavy  impatience. 
"This  thing's  already  been  thought  over  and 
tolked  over.    Foreign  pogt«  aren't  pasicd  around 


UHE  POOR  dp:  PREAI)  15 

like  tndinrfltnpt.  Tliqr  fo  tfie  men  equipped 
for  them— and  from  tfait  yeir  tiioee  men  are  going 
to  need  jpcater  eqnipmenl  tium  flashing  a  goM- 
headed  cane  and  writing  tomieti.  Yonknowse^ 
or  ei|^  languages,  and  you'vt  covered  Europe  for 
ten  or  twelve  ^pears.  You'w  leanied  the  lay  of  the 
land  and  served  your  comtaf  on  some  pretty  big 
questions." 

The  big  form  fettled  forwatd  over  the  desk  and 
the  big  voice  dropped  torn  more  serious  tone.  "Kest- 
ner,  that  coutthy  needs  you  now.  It  needs  you  as 
it  never  quite  needed  you  before.  And  if  you're 

the  American  I  think  you  ar^  you're  going  to  dde- ' 
step  the  tuOe  and  orgBfrmusic  for  a  few  wedes  and 
help  this  Adn&ustntion  out  of  a  hofer 

A  td^lK»e<aa  intemqiled  Ae  chief s  words,  but 
never  once  did  his  eyes  kave  tiie  other  man's  face. 

"Remember,  it's  not  this  newspaper  waiHalk 

that's  wonying  us.  We're  tfaee  months  ahead  of 

that.  And  it's  not  the  ditp^Kmibs  and  the  factoiy- 

bummgs  and  the  labor^kbts  tiiat  an  wonying  us. 

We've  got  plenty  of  good  woricers  to  traa  down  the 
rest  of  that  rouj^i-nack  stuff.  We  am  handle  the 
Fays  and  Von  ud  Van  Homes  and  Loo- 

^  and  Schoises  easily  enoughs  Aough  we  can't 


16 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


•Iways  holler  out  how  much  wc  know  about  'em. 
But  there's  another  gang  operating  over  here  that's 
getting  on  our  nerves.  For  example,  who  told  both 
Vienna  and  Berlin  that  we'd  approached  the  Danish 
Minister  on  the  matter  of  the  purchase  of  the  Dan- 
ish West  Indies  and  gave  the  Germans  a  chance  to 
set  the  Rigsdag  against  the  bill  of  cession?  Who 
surrendered  our  vacuum  valve  amplifier,  for  pick- 
ing up  wireless,  to  that  same  power?  Who  stole  the 
Peari  Island's  mine-field  maps  for  the  protection  of 
Ae  Canal?  Who  gave  our  new  Fort  Totten  target- 
firing  records  to  the  foreign  agent  who  was  taken 
off  the  Niew  'Amsterdam  at  Kirkwall  and  carried 
than  in  his  shoe-sole  when  arrested?  And  God 
knows  what  might  happen  before  our  next  dread- 
nought gets  off  the  stays  1  And  I'm  only  telling  you 
oae4ialf  of  what  we're  up  against  here,  with  this 
second  tmderground  band  sneaking  our  data  before 
it  can  even  be  reported  to  the  Department  itself. 
You  can  jpretty  well  see,  I  guess,  what's  got  t  * . 
done  by  some  one  from  this  office.   And  I'm  not 
Ae  only  man  who  thinks  you  ought  to  do  it.  You 
can  count  on  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and,  what'r 
more,  you  can  count  on  !he  White  He  use !" 
WiiimsSa.  moved,  as  though  to  break  the  silence, 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  17, 

but  Kesitner  stopped  him.  Then  lit  turned  to  tlM 
thick-shotildered  man  at  the  dfik. 

"Let  me  explain  something  to  you,*'  lie  began  io 
his  cool  and  even  tones.  "You  knofw  what  oar  woik 
is.  It's  a  bit  like  tiger^ooting;  lednctive  cnoa^ 
but  still  dangerous.  It  has,  as  you  tay,  a  great  deal 
of  rough-neck  work,  and  now  and  then  an  oocasioiial 
risk.  When  you're  young,  you're  ^l&d  enoQ^  to 
face  those  risks.  There'a  a  tiirill  aboul  it  But  to 
keep  on  at  it,  once  you're  nearing  for^,  you've  goi 
to  have  a  spark  of  youth  that  won't  go  ottt  Yon'^ 
got  to  nurse  your  streak  of  romanee.  Now,  tiie 
trouble  is,  I  find  my  spaik  gdng  out  Tbe  wotk 
doesn't  seem  romantic  to  me  aiqr  moie  It  ——iff 
nearly  always  homdrtiBi,  and  ytry  often  mder- 
hand." 

"It's  necessary  work,"  interrupted  tbe  oOier. 
"So  is  scavenging.  And  I  fed  I've  done  tbotA 

enough  of  it." 

"Then  keep  it  up,"  persisted  the  diief,  «ty  hOp- 
ing  us  clear  away  this  final  mess." 

"But  I'm  tired  of  messes  like  tf^  Tni  tiled  ol 
the  types  they  bring  yott  in  contact  wMl  Fnitifed 
of  the  way  thqr  hw»e  to  be  foonded  1^  Fni  tiied 
of  crook-warreas  and  gnn-pl^  and  wiie^i^fing. 


18         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

I  want  quietness  and  decency  and  an  acre  or  two  of 
lawn  with  a  tennis-court  at  one  end  and  a  Japanese 
tea-house  at  the  other!" 

••Which  is  exactly  what  I've  been  trying  to  argue 
you  into,"  promptly  pointed  out  the  chief.  "You 
get  aU  those  things  when  you  get  your  rosewood 
desk  at  the  Embassy— with  a  silk  hat  and  a  state 
carriage  thrown  in !" 

"My  experience  with  Embassies,"  suggested  Kest- 
ner,  "hasn't  precisely  fixed  them  in  my  mind  as 
abodes  of  quietude." 

"But  instead  of  stewing  along  the  undercrust, 
youH  be  a  monument  on  the  upper,"  said  the  chief, 
with  a  repeated  heavy  gesture  that  was  almost  one 
of  hnpatience.   "And  w  can  leave  the  Embassies 
out,  for  we've  got  troubles  closer  than  that.  We've 
got  one  of  the  shrewdest  and  completest  systems  of 
espionage  ever  organized  to  break  up.  As  I've  al- 
ready told  you,  we've  founds  leaks  from  the  Navy 
and  from  the  Aviation  Corps.   Our  cipher  codes 
have  been  stolen  and  our  wireless  adaptations  lifted. 
Our  canal  fortification  plans  have  been  dug  out,  and 
we  know  two  different  foreign  powers  are  trying  to 
get  Ae  secret  of  our  new  balanced  turbines,  to  say 
■othing  of  the  Cross  torpedo  for  which,  we  know 


,THE  DOOR  OF,  DRIAQ  1ft 

beyond  a  doubt,  one  InteOigenoe  Department  Iim 
offered  a  cod  mfflioa  And  we  have  eveiy  fcaioa 
to  believe  tiw  whole  bntineH  it  being  engineered  by 
one  of  the  triddett  foreign  agents  who  ever  bought 
a  war^nap." 

Kestner  sighed  a  little  wearily.  "And  the  gentle- 
man's name?"  he  casually  inquind. 

The  chief  was  silent  for  a  moment  or  two,  as 
though  weii^g  the  expediency  of  maldng  further 
confession  to  one  stffl  outside  the  Service.  Thcnhe 
IwHed  out  a  drawer  and  tossed  a  mounted  group- 
photograph  across  the  desk. 

•Thafs  an  enlargement  from  a  moving-picture 
fihn  showmg  Ae  crowd  that  watdied  the  hmnchmg 
of  our  new  submersible  destroyer.  Westumbledon 
it  by  accident.  But  in  that  crowd  is  one  face,  and 
if  you  look  at  it  under  the  glass  youTl  see  the  face 
of  the  man  who's  organized  the  entire  system  that 
we've  got  to  beat  That's  about  aU  we  know,  be- 
yond the  fact,  apparently,  ^  he's  working  with 
foreign  peopk  he's  brought  over  for  the  purpose, 
people  unknown  to  our  <^>eratives  here." 
"But  who's  the  man?"  repeated  Kestner,  running 

a  casual  eye  along  the  wdter  of  dos^  crowded  fig- 
Bres  on  the  motmted  pktme. 


20 


THE  DOOR  OP  DREAD 


"KcudeU!"  was  the  chief's  answer. 

Kestner's  hand  dropped  to  the  desk-top.  "Kcii- 
dell?"  he  echoed,  a  trifle  vacuously,  as  he  took  up 
the  picture  and  searched  through  iti  terrkd  faces 
with  a  narrowing  eye. 

"Then  you've  heard  the  name?"  inqiiiicd  the 

chief. 

"Yes,  I've  heard  the  name,"  was  Kestner's  slowly 
enunciated  answer.  "And  even  Wilsnach  here  will 
recognize  the  face,  I  imagine." 

"You  mean  you  know  the  man?" 

"Do  we  know  him,  Wilsnach?"  Kestner  asked, 
turning  to  his  colleague,  bent  k>ic  over  the  photo- 
graph. 

"That's  Keudell,"  cried  out  the  younger  pan. 
"I'd  swear  it." 

"And  what  do  you  know  about  him?"  asked 
Blynn,  turning  back  to  Kestner. 

"For  one  thing,  that  I  hate  him  the  mptt  as  ft 
woman  hates  a  snake." 
^  "Why?" 

Kestner's  answer  was  neither  so  prompt  nor  so 
direct  as  it  might  have  been.  "Because  embodied 
in  him  is  everything  about  this  life  that  made  it, 
and  still  makes  it,  odious  to  me." 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREADi  21 

"Does  that  mean/'  asked  the  cUef  at  he  waldMd 
Kestner  restore  the  pholofnq^  to  the  detk-topb 
"that  we're  not  to  coant  on  70a  hi  this  ftnV* 

Kestner  stared  for  a  meditathre  momem  or  two 
at  the  Washington  Monument  Then  he  turned  Hfk 
to  the  man  at  the  desk. 

"I'm  not  the  man  for  this  case.  But  I  know  tfie  * 

people  it  belongs  to.  And  I  can  at  leait  ettrt  thoae 

people  right." 

"What  people  ?"  asked  the  diiel, 
"Wilsnach  here,  for  one." 
"And  the  other?" 

"Is  a  young  woman  na»e(  Sadie  Wh«|ieL'' 

"Why  this  young  woman?" 

"Because  she  knows  Keudell  the  same  as  a  ke^er 

knows  a  diamond-back !" 

The  heavy-shouldered  man  bdbind  the  '*Hk  was 
already  on  his  feet. 

"Then  supposing  we  talk  to  the  Secretaty  of  the 
Navy  for  five  or  ten  minutes,"  he  suggested.  "And 
then  we'll  see  if  we  can't  get  hi  to  the  President  hun- 
self  for  a  few  mimttes." 

The  other  two  men  bad  already  risen. 

"The  first  thing  we  ought  to  do,"  ej^hdned  Kest- 
ne*'.  "is  to  round  up  Sadie  Wh^d." 


82         iTH£  DOOR  OF,  DREACj 

"Th^**  afmoanced  the  chief  as  he  crossed  to  the 
toner  door,  "should  not  be  a  difficult  matter." 

"Do  you  happen  to  know  Sadie?"  Kestner  asked. 

"Stdk  Wimpel,  gentlemen,  is  already  engaged  on 
this  case,'*  announced  the  chief,  with  a  pardonable 
note  of  pride  in  hit  voice.  "And  to-morrow,  as 
Madime  Fttidiiara,  the  world-renowned  astrolo- 
gitt,  I  might  add,  the  will  be  doing  the  decoy-duck 
act  jutt  off  Broadway  r 


CHAPTER  TWO 


IT  was  six  days  after  hU  confmnee  in  Waahiap. 
ton  that  Kestner  v  Srcakfarting  in  his  foomt 
overlooking  San  Diet '  Bay.  He  had  hia  reaKma 
for  privacy,  and  nursed  no  inclination,  wpputoOy, 
to  mingle  with  the  gayer  company  throngiiY  tht 
wide  verandas  and  corridors  of  that  huge  hottdiy 
which  seemed  to  exist  only  for  laughter  and  Tttf 
and  dancing  and  love-making. 

Yet  the  table  was  laid  for  two,  and  as  Kestner  m 
before  his  iced  Casaba  he  might  have  been  seen  to 
glance  repeatedly  and  impatiently  down  at  his  watch. 
His  look  of  anxiety,  in  fact,  did  i.ot  pass  away  nnta 
a  telephone-bell  rang  and  the  hotdKjffice  annoonoed 
the  arrival  of  Lieutenant  Keays. 

"I'm  sorry  to  be  late,"  proclaimed  this  yoong  fieit- 
tenant,  as  Kestner  admitted  him  and  at  ^  same 
moment  dismissed  the  waiter. 

The  newcomer,  who  bore  a  startlhig  itsendW 
to  Wilsnach  of  the  Paris  office,  insptettd  the  huien 
breakfast  table  with  evident  leHef.  It  ym,  how 

23 


24  THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


ever,  a  rejuvenated  Wilsnach,  an  airy  and  summery 
Wilsnach  in  white  cricketer's  flannel,  carrying  a  roU- 
brira  Panama  and  a  bamboo  swagger-stick.  "But 
to  rig  out  in  this  get-up  takes  time." 

Kestner,  as  they  took  their  seats,  cast  a  somno- 
lently critical  eye  over  his  younger  colleague. 
"You'll  do  I"  he  finally  announced. 

"But  just  why  am  I  Lieutenant  Keays?"  inquired 
the  man  in  cricketer's  flannel. 

"Because,  my  dear  fellow,  your  arrival  has  been 
duly  heralded  in  the  evening  papers,"  Kestner  an- 
nounced, "and  there  are  one  or  two  persons,  quite 
outside  official  circles,  who  are  rather  interested  in 
your  new  war-plane." 

"My  new  war-plane?"  • 

"Yes;  which  you  have  brought  with  you  from 
the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard— at  least,  the  speciHcations 
are  now  with  you." 

Kestner  handed  an  oblong  packet  of  papers  across 
the  table  to  his  inquiring-eyed  colleague. 

"Then  you've  actually  been  finding  something 
out?^  Wilsnach  asked. 

"I've  found  out  quite  a  number  of  things,"  was 
Keitner's  quiet-toned  answer,  as  he  squeezed  a  slice 
of  lemon  over  his  fried  sand-dabs.  "And  not  the 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  25 

least  important  is  :  fact  that  Wallaby  Sam  is 
working  with  Ke  iciell." 

Wilsnach  looki  1  i  p  in  asto'iishment. 

"That's  a  sweei  pair  to  have  against  usl"  he  sol- 
emnly affirmed. 

"But  this  seems  to  be  only  a  side-show,"  Kestner 
explained.  "The  main-top,  we  must  remember,  is 
back  in  New  York.  It's  only  outpost  work  we're 
doing  here,  Wilsnach,  for  it's  Sadie  they've  planted 
at  the  center  of  things." 

A  shadow  crossed  Wilsnach's  face. 

"But  will  it  be  safe  for  that  girl,  working  alone 
there?" 

Kestner  smiled. 

"You'd  rather  have  her  here?"  he  inquired. 

"Couldn't  she  help  us  out,  on  a  case  like  this?" 

"But  this  case,  Wilsnach,  is  off  the  main  line 
And  you  needn't  worry  about  Sadie  Wimpel  not 
being  able  to  take  care  of  herself.  In  the  meantime, 
however,  we've  got  our  own  work  cut  out  for  us." 

"Along  what  lines?" 

"I'm  not  quite  sure  myself,  yet  You  see,  I've  had 
to  keep  under  cover  and  remain  a  purely  nocturnal 

animal,  so  to  speak.   And  that's  cowitod  agaiast 

me." 


26 


JHE  POOR  PF,  dread: 


"Why  under  cover?" 

"Because  one  of  the  facts  I've  dug  out  is  that  the 
sweet-scented  couple  we  spoke  of  a  moment  ago 
have  got  Anna  Makaieff  operating  for  them,  and 
operating  right  here  in  this  hotel." 

"Makaieff?"  cogitated  Wilsnach,  "Jhat  name's 
new  to  me.'* 

'•Well,  it  isn't  to  me— and  I've  had  the  dictaphone 
annunciator  on  the  end  of  this  jointed  bamboo  fish- 
ing-pole covering  her  window  every  night  it  was 
open." 

"Where  does  she  come  from?" 

"Her  father  was  an  Anglicized  Pole  and  her 
mother  a  music-hali  singer  in  Paris.  She  was 
trained  for  the  stage  herself,  but  married  before  she 
.was  twenty.  Then  she  went  to  India  with  an  Eng- 
lish army-officer  who  knew  nothing  of  her  antece- 
dents. There  she  hitched  up  with  a  Russian  grand- 
duke  and  ran  away  to  the  Orient,  where  she  was 
soon  deserted,  and  had  to  live  by  her  wits.  Keudell 
found  her  there  when  he  was  buying  up  German 
coast-defense  data,  and  took  her  to  Vienna,  where 
she  learned  two  or  three  more  languages,  and  how 
to  dress,  and  a  few  of  the  tricks  of  the  international 
?py  trade.   She  wgis  four  year*  in  Petrograd«  and 


THE  POOR  of;  PREAEf  aZ 


those  four  years,  I'd  venture,  cost  the  Russian  gov- 
ernment a  good  nany  million  rubles  in  militaij; 
leaks.  Then  she  rather  dropped  out  of  things  for 
a  few  years,  for  she  actually  fell  in  love  with  a 
young  artist  and  stuck  to  him  like  a  bur  until  ^ 
family  railroaded  the  boy  out  of  the  country.  Jo- 
day  she's  an  exceptionally  iulroit  and  attractive 
woman  of  the  panther  type,  at  the  dangerous  age 
of  thirty,  and  with  her  claws  this  time  sei  in  the 
flesh  of  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  Diehms  oui  heie.*' 

"And  has  Diehms  been— r!"  iWilsnadi  aeemed  le- 
Ittctant  to  put  his  felloic-offioeifa  fyH  into  ^n»d», 

I'm  afraid  so." 

'Toorde'ir 

"Yes,  poor  devil,  for  He  Has  a  ynU  imi  tm  <3ui^ 
dren  at  Wihningtoo,  and  Sfambb  ^mttB  Ine  ttcy'te 
the  right  sort!" 

"And  does  jtbe  liCalaueff  ^ghuaaiuL  aream  yoit'ie  on 

her  trail?"  * 

"Naturally  iio^  or  ^'d  tvta  Id  Didmis  oiti  bl 
her  claws  to  get  awqr.  It  makes  me  ^  to  we 
poordefildaadogaboiiisir^lier.  H^iBkeania' 

in  a  trance." 

"Could  slie  Hare  for  lumr 

"Netan^t  What  she's  HiT^ir  is  Nwy  ki]foin»« 


2S         THE  DOOR  OF!  DREAD 


tion.  Why,  she  had  possession  of  every  detail  of 
our  L-i  ten  days  after  it  was  launched  at  the  yards 
of  the  Fore  River  Shipbuilding  Company  and  three 
weeks  1  ofore  its  acceptance  trials  by  the  Navy  peo- 
ple themselves.  And  now  she's  after  our  new  air- 
ship specifications.  That  seems  to  be  her  main  ob- 
ject. But  incidentally  she's  picking  up  any  Army 
or  Navy  secret  that  she  can  get  her  hands  on.  So 
the  only  thing  for  this  man  Diehms  to  do,  when  the 
truth  comes  out,  is  to  shut  himself  up  and  quietly 
blow  his  brains  out." 

"But  can  you  afford  to  let  him  do  that?" 

"I  can't  exactly  say,  just  yet.  But  our  panther 
has  hypnotized  him.  For  example,  you  read  last 
week  about  the  aviation  tests  over  here  at  the  North 
Island  school  ?  You  probably  read  how  Lieutenant 
Taylor,  of  the  Aviation  Corps,  established  an  endur- 
ance record  for  eleven  hours  and  twelve  minutes  on 
only  thirty  gallons  of  gasoline.  That  was  with  our 
new  Farlow  motor.  Keudell  and  his  people  to-day 
have  full  specifications  of  that  motor  in  their  posses- 
sion. Anna  MakaieiT  is  the  agent  who  got  it  for 
them — ^though  it  didn't  come  from  Diehms.  And 
inside  another  ten  days,  if  no  one  interferes  with 


THE  DOOR  of;  DREAI)  79 


her  activities,  she'll  know  as  much  about  our  secret 
adaptation  of  the  Crozier-BufBngton  disappearing 
carriage  for  coast-defense  guns  as  the  Chief  of  Ord- 
nance himself.  So  that  gives  you  a  slight  hint  of 
why  this  very  handsome  young  lady  from  Austria 
has  to  be  rounded  up.** 

Wilsnach  poured  himself  out  a  second  cup  of 
coffee.  "She  won't  be  easy  to  comer,  I  imagine.*' 

"The  hardest  part  is  Diehms,  with  that  decent 
family  to  pull  down  after  him,"  was  Kestncr's  medi- 
tative reply.  "The  poor  devil  can't  be  saved,  of 
course.   But  I  find  it  isn't  easy  to  get  the  thou^ 
of  that  Wilmington  home  out  of  my  head." 
"And  the  woman  doesn't  worry  you?" 
"What  good  is  a  woman  of  that  type  ?  She's  like 
a  cat  in  a  squab-pen.  The  sooner  her  hide  is  nailed 
to  the  aviary  door,  the  better.  She's  merely  a  sneak- 
thief  in  spangles.  She's  nothing  more  than  a  penny- 
weighter with  a  Paris  accent,  or  a  lush-dip  with  the 
grande  dame  air."   Kestner's  gesture  was  one  of 
half-wearied  disgust.   "She's  just  panther— which 
means  cat  written  large.  What  I'm  trying  to  tell  you 
is  that  she's  carnivorous,  and  always  will  be,  for 
wherever  your  panther  wancfers  you  an  goiiif  to 


3Q         [THE  DOOR  QF,  DREADj 

find  her  feeding  on  somebody's  flesh  and  blood.  And 
jve'd  all  prefer  that  she  wandered  about  in  some 
other  part  of  the  world." 

"Panthers  aren't  so  easily  rounded  up,"  reiterated 
the  mild-eyed  Wilsnach. 

Kestner  sat  for  several  minutes  in  studious  si- 
lence. Then  he  smiled  as  he  glanced  up  at  his 
younger  companion.  "The  approved  method  of 
rounding  them  up,  I  believe,  is  to  locate  their  run- 
yvay,  and  then  stake  an  innocent  young  lamb  down 
in  the  jungle." 

"And  you're  to  be  the  lamb?"  was  the  quick  in- 
qvdry. 

"On  the  contrary,  I'm  too  lamentably  old  for  such 
uses.  And  the  wool  would  never  cover  me,  for 
there's  a  limit  to  all  disguises,  once  you've  been 
known.  Besides,  your  bleat  can  always  give  you 
away.  You  agree  with  me  there,  don't  you,  Wils- 
nach, that  a  man  can  never  really  disguise  his  voice  T* 

"I've  never  seen  it  done,  off  the  stage.** 

"Precisely.  So  that  counts  me  out  with  the  lady, 
.with  whom  I  once  had  the  pleasure  of  conversing.'* 

"Then  who  in  thunder  is  going  to  be  the  lamb?'* 
yrzs  Wilsnach's  perturbed  demand. 

"How  would  you  like  to  be  ?" 


lTHE  DOOK  of,  DREAD! 


31 


*'I  wt»uldn't  like  it  at  all,"  ^as  Wilsnach's  prpn^ 
retort. 

**WelI,  you  may  as  well  get  used  to  the  idea,"  and 
this  time  Kestner  spoke  without  smiling,  "for  my 
plans  are  made,  and  you're  going  to  be  planted  rig^t 
in  the  path  of  this  most  predaceous  lady." 

"Well,  it's  not  yfotk  I  care  for,  and  that  I'll  say 
right  now !" 

Kestner  got  up  from  the  table  and  lodnd  a  little 
wearily  out  across  the  Bay  ^(rhere  the  green  low- 
lands of  the  Aviation  Field  were  freckled  .with  the 
tiny  mushrooms  of  serried  army  tents. 

"I've  always  said,  Wilsnach,  that  there  are  times 
the  Service  takes  us  into  dirty  work.  And  I'm  acwiy 
if  this  has  got  to  be  one  of  themj" 


CHAPTER  THREE 


THE  second  evening  following  the  printed 
announcements  of  the  arrival  of  Lieutenant 
Keays  at  the  Coast  a  number  of  his  younger  fellow- 
officers  tendered  him  a  quite  informal  dinner.  This 
dinner,  which  was  served  'n  one  of  the  upper  rooms 
opening  off  the  dancing-floor,  was  sufficiently  con- 
vivial in  character  to  attract  the  attention  of  casual 
couples  tired  of  waltzing  and  fox-trotting  to  the 
strains  of  an  orchestra. 

It  had  been  the  source  of  much  disappointment  to 
the  young  stranger  from  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard 
that  Lieutenant-Colonel  Diehms  had  failed  to  attend 
this  dinner.  Yet  Wilsnach,  keeping  his  wits  about 
him,  did  not  betray  his  feelings.  For  before  the 
evening  was  over  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
Diehms  step  into  the  room  where  he  sat.  The  last 
notes  of  Nights  of  Gladness  had  just  died  away,  and 
to  the  young  Lieutenant-Colonel's  arm  d  ing  one  of 
the  loveliest  women  that  the  man  from  the  Paris 
office  had  ever  had  the  dubious  good  luck  to  behold. 

32 


It 


THE  TOOR  OF  DREAD  33 

Wilsnach,  for  all  the  byplay  with  those  aboiit  him, 
studied  her  closely,  but  not  so  dosely  at  he  ttiidied 

the  face  of  the  man  with  her.  ' 

"I  call  that  an  uncommonly  beautiful  woman," 
ventured  the  light-hearted  Wilsnach  to  the  officer  on 
his  right  as  he  glanced  toward  the  small  taUe  to 
which  a  silver  cooler  filled  with  chopped  ice  had  just 
been  brought.  "Who  is  she  ?" 

"That's  Madame  Gamier,"  answered  the  man  on 
Wilsnach's  right. 

"Then  not  an  American?" 

"No;  she's  merely  spending  the  winter  here.** 

"But  why  here?"  blithely  persisted  Wilsnach. 

"She's  rather  interested  in  aviation.  Th^  say 
her  husband  is  Gamier,  the  French  invents  who's 
getting  out  that  gyroscopic  sUbilizer  for  air^nft. 
She's  going  to  look  after  the  government  trials  ioe 
him." 

Yet  as  the  talk  at  Wilsnach's  crowded  table 
grew  louder,  and  the  laughter  more  convivial,  the 
shadowy-eyed  woman  with  the  orange  opera-cloak 
looked  more  than  once  in  the  direction  of  the  newly 
arrived  Lieutenant  Keays.  From  under  her  dark 
lashes,  from  time  to  time,  she  might  even  hav«  been 
detected  studying  his  well-taik>red  iignre  witii  a  not 


34         THE  DOOR  0?  DREAD 

altogether  impersonal  interest.  Her  companion,  H 
might  also  have  been  observed,  lapsed  more  and 
more  into  periods  of  gloomy  silence.  And  if  Mad- 
ame Gamier  occasionally  spoke  at  greater  length  to 
the  young  French  waiter  who  attended  her  table  than 
might  seem  necessary,  and  if  this  waiter  showed  any 
tmdue  interest  in  the  neighboring  table  and  its  noisy 
officers,  no  one  outside  of  the  alert-eyed  Wilsnach 
seemed  to  take  notice  of  the  matter. 

When  the  technicalities  of  a  wordy  argument 
among  his  confreres  warranted  Lieutenant  Keays 
in  produc  certain  papers  and  specifications  from 
his  pocket,  and  he  allowed  these  to  pass  from  hand 
to  hand  about  the  table,  a  close  observer  might  also 
have  noticed  the  minutest  tightening  of  Madame 
Gamier's  lanf  orous  lips.  And  when  these  papers 
were  duly  restored  to  the  young  lieutenant's  posses- 
sion, and  later  to  his  pocket,  the  woman  with  the 
ivory-white  skin  might  have  been  seen  whispering 
certain  information  to  the  gloomy-eyed  officer  be- 
side her.  Then  as  the  glasses  were  refilled  and  the 
noisy  talk  resumed,  Madame  Gamier  and  Diehms 
left  the  room. 

When,  an  hour  later,  the  last  toast  had  been 
drank  and  Keays'  last  companion  had  bidden  him 


THE  DOOR  PP  DREAD  3S 


good  night,  he  wanderer'  disconsolately  but  warily 
about  those  suddenly  quieted  upper  regions  off  the 
dancing-floor.  He  wandered  erratically  yet  alertly 
on,  with  his  heart  in  his  boots,  for  the  sudden  fear 
possessed  him  that  Madame  Garnier  had  retired  for 
the  night.  Then  quite  as  suddenly  he  felt  his  heart 
come  back  from  his  boots  to  his  throat.  For  as  he 
stepped  out  of  the  deserted  ballroom  he  felt  his 
body  brushed  by  the  perilous  fringes  of  a  golden- 
orange  opera-cloak  trimmed  with  sable.  At  the 
same  moment  a  little  Watteau-like  fan  of  ivory 
dropped  to  the  floor. 

He  stood  staring  down  at  it  stupidly.  He  heard  a 
small  coo  of  startled  laughter  and  an  even  softer 
apologetic  murmur  of  regret.  He  leaned  forward 
unsteadily  and  groped  about  on  the  polished  floor, 
trying,  with  what  appeared  to  be  the  ineffectual 
struggles  of  inebriacy,  to  recover  the  fan. 

The  woman  at  his  side  laughed  a  second  time, 
laughed  softly  and  mysteriously,  as  she  stooped  and 
caught  it  up.  Then  she  crossed  the  room  and  passed 
out  through  the  door  into  the  shadowy  darkness  of 
the  wide  loggia  swept  by  the  balmy  night  sea-breeze. 

Wilsnach,  with  studiously  unsteady  steps,  made 
his  way  toward  that  same  door  and  stepped  out  u^oa 


36         .THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


the  Mint  ihadowy  loggia.  There,  finding  the  wide 
s|»cei  of  that  behny-eired  veranda  tsnoocupied«  he 
groped  his  way  to  a  huge  rustic  chair  beside  the  rail- 
ing, and  after  swayingly  communing  with  nature 
and  essaying  several  fruitless  efforU  to  reform  his 
dant^ing  tie-ends,  subsided  into  a  sleep  that  seemed 
as  untroubled  as  it  was  profound 

Out  of  the  shadowy  doorvmy  bdiind  the  sleeper 
stole,  a  few  moments  later,  the  equally  shadowy  fig- 
ure of  a  woman  in  a  golden-orange  opera'doak 
trimmed  with  sable.  She  advanced  slowly  and 
noiselessly  to  the  railing,  dose  beside  the  rustic  chair. 
She  turned  toward  the  chair,  stood  motionless  and 
murmured  an  almost  inaudible  sentence  or  two. 

Her  words,  however,  brou^^  no  answer  from 
the  recumbei^  figure  with  the  straggling  tie-ends. 
So  the  woman  looked  quietly  about,  slipped  closer 
to  the  sleq>ing  man  and  stooped  over  him. 

A  tingling  of  nerves  needled  through  Wilsnadi's 
cramped  body  as  he  felt  the  toudi  of  that  white 
hand.  The  fingera  slipped  like  a  snake  in  under  his 
coat,  but  he  neither  moved  OM"  lifted  an  cydid.  He 
was  conscious  of  the  fact  ^  the  woman**  breath 
was  fanning  wvrjily  at  his  face,  that  he  hy  within 
the  aura  of  some  soft  and  vdiuptoous  aroma,  that 


THE  DOOR  of:  dread 

there  was  tomething  perversely  afipealii^  nbovl  tht 
very  nearness  of  that  perfumed  body,  no  amitr 

what  mission  had  brought  it  so  close  to  Wft  mnL 
He  could  still  feel  the  slender  finpns  feilii||  lUjilM 
ingly  about  under  his  coat. 

He  could  hear  her  quiet  littfe  gn^  of  r^tarf  m 
they  'dosed  on  the  packet  of  papers  wlydi  Ik  oh^ 
ried  there.  And  he  was  conscious  of  her  ronipliH 
•ttspension  of  t  'cath  aj  the  hand,  still  holda^  Wm 
papers,  was  slowly  and  malthily  wii  Ji-  .n. 

The  next  moment  she  was  standing  at  the  i^i 
agahi,  as  quiet  as  a  statue,  staring  dreamily  ont  over 
the  moonlit  water.  Then  she  turned  and  with  a 
quickening  murmur  of  drapery  passed  out  of  the 
circle  of  Wilsnach's  hearing  and  dtiusmSAsm, 

He  waited  there,  however,  for  what  seemed  m  f«»- 
sonable  length  of  tine  to  ledBOii  at  tht  matgia  of 
safety. 

Yet  the  tired  limbi  nmaiaed  as  cramped  as  be> 
fore.  For  at  the  very  moment  he  had  decided  to 
gather  himself  together  he  heasd  the  sound  of  a 
stealthy  step  behind  him.  A  man  stood  it  Ida  akk^ 
stooped  close  over  his  face  and  then  oooe  mofc 
peered  cautiously  about  tte  ^bricne^  For  ti»  tic* 
ood  time  a  ting^  of  nerves  tiP^  ttm^Wi^ 


38         THE  DOOK  OF,  DREAD! 


nach's  tired  body.  And  for  a  second  time  a  hand 
insinuated  itself  under  his  coat,  padded  quietly 
about  and  then  proceeded  to  explore  his  lower 
pockets. 

But  the  search  proved  fruitless.  The  man  swung 
about,  crossed  the  loggia  and  hurried  in  through 
the  open  door.  As  he  did  so  Wilsnach  twisted 
quickly  about  in  the  rustic  chair,  and  peered  after 
him. 

A  second  later  the  disappearing  figure  had  passed 
from  Wilsnach's  line  of  vision.  His  glimpse  of  the 
man  was  a  brief  one;  and  the  light  had  been  uncer- 
tain. But  it  both  angered  and  amazed  him  to  realize 
that  his  second  visitor  had  been  an  agent  so  menial; 
had  been,  in  fact,  one  of  the  hotel  waiters. 

He  was  still  half-kneeling  on  the  chair,  with  a 
head  craned  about  its  back,  when  a  quicker  step 
sounded  beside  him  and  a  hand  was  clamped  on  his 
shoulder.  The  next  moment  he  saw  it  was  Kestner. 

**Who  was  that  man 

"Never  mind  who  he  is.  You  get  down  to  the 
carriage  entrance  and  head  off  Diehms  if  he  tries  to 
climb  into  ^n  automobile.  I'll  get  to  the  main  door 
and  stop  him  there,  if  he  goes  that  way.  If  there's 
no  sign  of  Diehms  at  your  end  of  the  house  put  a 


.THS  X>OOli  DREAD! 


39 


man  on  guard  and  get  back  into  Madame  Garnier't 
rooms  with  this  pass-key.  For  if  Diehms  and  that 
woman  ever  get  out  of  this  hotel,  it's  good-by!" 

"But  what  can  they  do?" 

"God  only  knows  I  But  I've  a  feeling,  Wilsnach, 
that  we'll  never  see  them  alive  again  I" 

Wilsnach  did  not  linger  to  talk  this  over.  He 
made  his  way  down  through  the  hotel  and  inspected 
the  neighborhood  of  the  porte-cochere.  He  found 
there,  however,  no  trace  of  Diehms.  So,  having 
slipped  a  bill  into  the  hand  of  a  sleepy-eyed  "starter," 
he  explained  what  was  expected  of  that  attendant 
and  quickly  swung  back  throu^  the  all  but  deserted 
hotel  corridors. 

He  hesitated  for  several  seconds  before  the  door 
which  he  knew  to  be  Madame  Gamier's,  for  he  was 
still  uncertain  as  to  what  was  demanded  of  him. 
Then  he  took  a  deep  breath,  fitted  the  key  to  the 
lock,  listened  intently  and  stepped  inside. 

On  his  right,  he  could  see,  stood  a  partly  opened 
door,  and  he  felt  convinced  of  the  fact  that  it  led 
to  a  bedroom.  This  discovery  left  him  a  little  un- 
easy and  a  little  uncertain  as  to  how  to  advance. 

Then  all  thought  on  the  matter  suddenly  vanished, 
for  a  quick  sound  smote  on  his  startled  ear,  a  souod 


40  JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

like  that  of  a  window-sash  being  savagely  pried 
open. 

This  was  followed  by  a  rustle  of  drapeiy  and  the 
quick  sharp  scream  of  a  woman.  Then  came  a 
silence,  followed  by  the  sound  of  a  woman's  voice, 
slightly  tremukwis  with  terror.  **fVho  ore  yout* 

It  was  a  man's  voice  that  answered,  menacing, 
deliberate  and  not  altogether  pleasant  to  hear. 
"Never  mind  who  I  am.  But  I  want  those  Navy 
plans  you  took  off  that  Easterner,  and  I  want  them 
quick !" 

"You  will  never  get  those  papers,"  was  the  wom- 
an's deliberately  defiant  reply. 
"I  think  I  wiUr 

"Those  papers  belong  to  the  Navy  Department 
and  they  will  go  back  to  the  Navy  Department,  no 
matter  what  Keudell  or  any  of  his  spies  may  do  I" 

The  man,  apparently,  had  advanced  farther  into 

the  room. 

''Keep  back!" 
"Not  this— " 

The  sentence  was  never  finished.  The  next  mo- 
ment a  shot  rang  out,  foUowed  by  the  sound  of  an 
uncertain  step  or  two,  and  then  the  duU  thud  of  a 
falling  body. 


JH£  IXX)R  of:  DREAQ  41 


Wilsnach,  with  his  heart  in  his  mouth,  ran  across 
the  room  and  darted  in  through  the  half-open  door. 

In  the  center  of  the  bedroom  he  saw  an  ivory- 
skinned  woman  in  an  evening-gown,  with  a  smoking 
revolver  in  her  hand.  Stretched  out  on  the  floor 
lay  the  figure  of  a  man.  Beside  him,  on  the  polished 
hardwood  floor,  glistened  a  small  pool  of  blood.  And 
Wilsnach's  first  glance  told  him  this  was  the  same 
man  who  had  stooped  over  him  as  he  lay  in  his  k)g- 
gia  chair. 

The  next  moment  Wilsnach  was  at  the  telephone. 
"Send  the  house  doctor  to  Madame  Gamier's  rooms 
at  once.  At  once,  please,  for  it's  an  emergency 
case." 

Then  he  called  over  the  wire:  "Give  me  room 
four  hundred  and  twenty-seven."  Frantically  as 
Wiknadi  called  room  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven,  he  could  get  no  response  there  from  Kestner. 
And  now,  of  all  times,  he  wanted  the  guidance  and 
help  of  his  older  colleague.  For  he  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  tangle  that  he  could  not  quite  comprehend. 

"If  this  is  known,"  still  sobbed  the  Foman,  "cv- 
•fyAing  will  be  lost" 

Wilsnach  stood  regarding  the  tumbled  mass  of 
her  dusky  hair.  He  stared  at  it  a  little  vacantly,  a( 


,TH£  DOOK  Of!  DR£AD 
^MMti^  it  ^vere  no  «aqr  ^liog  for  Uia  to  d^M  lib 

'mat  than  I  dor  cried  the  wfaite-ahouIdeKd 
woman,  as  she  looked  up  at  him  with  distracted 
eyes. 

"What  do  you  want  to  do?"  asked  the  somewhat 
bewildered  WUsnadL 

Instead  of  answering  that  question,  she  stand  at 
him  with  what  seemed  to  be  a  sodden  i^roof. 

"Can't  yon  see  what  has  happened  here?"  die 
asked,  hi  little  more  than  a  whiter. 

1  can  see  that  we  both  seem  to  be  workmg  for 
the  same  Service,  without  quite— ^ 

"Then  what  are  we  to  do?"  ^  cot  in.  Tor  no 
one  must  dream  I'm  in  that  Service  and  every 
moment  mems  danger  f 

"There  are  several  thmgs  we  can  do.  The  first 
is  to  let  hi  that  house  6xxlbor,  ]^  remember,  «> 
one  else.  Then  wait  for  me  here  until  I  get  badcf 

He  was  off,  the  next  nxMnent,  scourmg  the  nud- 
nigfat  hotd  for  scmie  trace  of  Kestner.  It  was  not 
until  he  reached  the  bggia  itsdf  that  he  caui^t  si^ 
of  his  older  colleague's  figure.  And  Wilsnacfa  hesi- 
tated for  a  nxMnent  to  i^^Mroadi  that  dder  colleague, 
lor  he  saw  Kestner  was  aUeadjr  acooatiiig  a  trim* 


CTHE  DOOR  OIP  pREAi:!  43 


shouldered  officer  with  a  military  cloak  thrown  over 

his  arm. 

"Lieutenant  Diehms?"  Wilsnach  could  hear  his 
fellow-operative  say.  He  could  also  see  the  offi- 
cer's curt  head-movement  of  assent 

"There's  a  matter  I'd  like  to  talk  to  yoa  about," 
announced  Kestner. 

"Why?" 

"Because  in  this  hotel,  not  an  hour  ago,  Madane 
Gamier  stole  a  number  of  Navy  peciets  from  an 
officer  named  Keays." 

The  two  men  confronted  each  other.  Jlheir  stares 
seemed  to  meet  and  lock,  like  the  antlers  of  cmbsi- 
tled  stags. 

".Who  are  you?" 

"I'm  from  the  Secret  Service  at  Washington,  and 
I  am  here  investigating  Navy  leaks — ^Navy  Inks  in 
yrhidi  you  are  involved." 

"In  which  I  am  mvolved?"  repeater  the  officer. 

"Do  you  know  who  Idadame  .Gamier  uht  and 
where  she  comes  from?'* 

"She  is  a  confidential  agent  of  our  own  fovem- 
ment,"  was  the  officer's  reply.  "And  she  ocmies  ffom 
Washington  for  the  same  work  that  yps  ftvleM  to 
be  doing."  ,  , 


44         .THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

Kcstner  stood  for  a  moment  studying  the  other 
waa.  But  his  vague  look  of  pity  did  not  desert 
hiin. 

*Tin  sorry  for  you,  Diehms!  Truly  sorry!  Be- 
cause you've  been  made  a  tool  of— more  than  a  tool 

ofr 

Diehms  swung  suddenly  about.  He  caught  the 
other  man  in  a  grip  as  fixed  and  frantic  as  the  last 
grip  of  die  drowning. 

God,  yooTl  not  say  that!"  was  his  passion- 
ate cry. 

Kestner  had  no  chance  to  reply  to  that  cry,  for 
A^^lsnach,  reluctant  to  wait  longer,  stepped  quickly 
uptohim. 

"Something's  happened,"  announced  the  new- 
comer, at  a  loss  as  to  how  he  should  proceed. 

1  know  it,"  quietly  acknowledged  Kestner. 

"But  I  must  speak  to  you  akmeP 

"On  the  cootraiy.  Lieutenant  Diehms  will  be 
equally  iatetested  in  the  occurrence,"  coolly  declared 

thedderman.  "So  you  needn't  hesitate  to  speak 
out" 

Bid  m  M^lsaidi  hesitated. 
Thea  111  do  it  for  you,"  explained  the  cahn-eyed 
Kestner.  "You  were  abot^  to  announce  that  Ma- 


THE  DCX>R  of:  DREAQ  45 


dame  Gamier,  to  protect  certain  invaluable  Navjr 
secrets,  has  just  shot  a  man  who  attempted  to  force 
those  secrets  from  her.  Is  that  not  true?" 
"Yes  I"  gasped  Wilsnach. 

"And  is  it  not  equally  true  that  he  was  shot  in  the 

leg?" 
"Yes." 

"And  yet,  Wilsnach,  entirely  for  our  benefit! 
Listen  to  me,  both  of  you.  An  hour  ago  Madame 
Gamier  found  she  was  under  observation,  when  she 
stole  certain  papers  I've  already  mentioned.  She  is 
a  quick-witted  woman.  She  proved  this  by  the 
promptness  with  which  she  pretended  she'd  taken 
those  papers  to  forestall  their  theft  by  quite  another 
spy.  But  that  spy  is  her  own  colleague,  once  known 
as  Soldier-Ben.  For  the  last  three  weeks,  I  find,  he 
has  been  gay-catting  lor  her  here  in  this  hotel  as  a 
jvaiter." 

"Preposterous  1"  was  the  one  yrofd  that  cane  from 
Diehms'  lips. 

"Yet  equally  trae,"  continued  Kestner.  "But  that 
is  not  all.  Madame  Gamier  had  other  evideao^  Uh 
night,  that  her  position  had  beccnne  a  dangerous  one. 
She  realized  things  had  suddoily  come  to  a  final  ift> 
sue,  ShenadesevefiadtSGQnrtties,yetOM«lihn| 


46         TH£  DOOR  OF.  DR£AQ 

was  not  the  fact  that  during  the  last  three  days  a 
dictaphone  had  been  placed  in  her  room — ^as  my  duly 
tfanscribed  shorthand  will  later  show.  She  knew 
she  was  near  her  last  ditch.  She  had  courage,  and 
she  had  cleverness,  so  she  engineered  this  particular 
shooting-scene,  promptly  and  deliberately  engineered 
it  with  that  poor  dupe  of  hers,  for  the  purpose  of 
throwing  us  off  the  track,  if  only  for  half  an  hour. 
During  that  half-hour,  as  you  very  well  know,  Lieu- 
tenant Diduns,  you  and  she  would  be  out  of  this 
hotd  and  in  a  motor-car  headed  for  the  Mexican 
border.** 

Didnns  stood  with  unseeing  eyes. 

"Vfhat,"  finally  asked  the  young  officer,  "what 
will  this  tnean— for  her?"  " 

Trom  twelve  to  twenty  years  in  federal  prison 
at  Atlanta,"  was  Kestner's  answer. 

A  visible  muscular  twinge  ran  through  the  man's 
rigid  body.  *'And  former  he  added. 

**0nly  one  thing— court-martial." 

The  yotmg  ofiber  with  the  premature  gray  about 
tiie  ten^Iet  folded  his  arms.  He  stood  for  several 
momwits  staring  heavily  ahead  of  him. 

Td  prefer  .  .  .  ending  things  ...  in  the 
tBiir  yray"  lie  slowljr  announced. 


"I'm  sorry,"  said  Kestner,  as  he  looked  out  over 
the  midnight  Bay,  twinkling  with  its  countless  lights. 
"But  it  seems  the  onljr  way  out  1" 

"It's  the  only  way,"  echoed  the  officer  at  his  side. 

"But  even  then  there  are  certain  thinp  to  be  re- 
membered," Kestner  reminded  him. 

"I  have  not  forgotten  them." 

"Then  we  can  arrange  those  details  in  my  room, 
if  you'll  be  so  good  as  to  ^t  for  me  a  moment 
or  two." 

Kestner,  as  the  officer  walked  to  the  end  of  the 
loggia,  turned  to  his  colleague,  wiping  his  forehead 
as  he  did  so.  "Wilsnach,  the  side-show's  over,  and 
they've  sent  word  for  you  to  catch  the  first  train  for 
New  York.  Are  you  ready  to  start?" 

"Yes,  I'm  ready,"  the  younger  man  replied.  "But 
what  are  you  going  to  do  about  this  poot:  devil 
Diehms?" 

Kestner  stared  out  over  the  water. 

"You'll  find  the  answer  to  that  waiting  for  you 
when  you  report  at  Sadie  Wimpel's  rooms.  And 
then  you'll  understand  why  I've  been  saying  that 
JService  woxk  can't  alwajrs  be  dean  yoikl" 


CHAPTER  FOUR 


SIX  days  later  a  funereal  old  figure  came  to  a 
stop  before  a  shabby-fronted  house  in  a  shabby 
New  York  side-street  not  far  from  Herald  Square. 
He  hesitated  for  a  moment  at  the  foot  of  an  iron 
hand-rail,  red  with  rust.  Then  he  glanced  pensively 
eastward  toward  Broadway,  and  then  as  pensively 
westward  toward  Eighth  Avenue.  Then  the  dolo- 
rous eyes  blinked  once  more  up  at  the  sign-board 
which  announced : 

MME.  FATICHIARA 
PdmUi  mid  Astrohgist 

The  next  moment  the  man  in  black  ascended  the 
broken  sandstone  house-steps  and  rang  the  bell. 

He  stood  in  the  doorway,  pensive  and  dejected, 
with  his  rusty  umbrella  in  his  hand.  About  his  arm 
was  a  band  of  crape,  faded  to  a  bottle  green,  and 
on  his  bespectacled  face  was  a  look  of  timorous 
audacity. 

He  rang  again,  aj^parently  quite  unconstious  of 

48 


THE  DOOR  OP  DREAD  49 


having  been  under  scrutiny  from  a  shrewd  pair  of 
eyes  that  stared  out  through  the  shuttered  grillt- 
work  of  the  door  itself.  Then  he  sighed  heavily, 
and  was  about  to  ring  for  the  third  time,  when  the 
door  opened  and  he  found  himself  confronted  by  m 
large  negress  who,  while  arrayed  in  a  costume  that 
was  unmistakably  Oriental,  still  bore  raaj  of  tht 
earmarks  of  Eighth  Avenue  origin. 

"Madame  Fatichiara?"  the  visitor  ventured,  wttfa 
a  timid  glance  at  the  imperturbable  turbaned  figure. 

The  negress  solemnly  nodded,  stepped  aside  and 
motioned  for  him  to  advance.  This  movement  was 
made  with  an  arm  far  too  athletic  to  be  lightly  dis- 
regarded. Then  the  door  was  closed  behind  him, 
and  another  door  at  the  rear,  suggestively  presided 
over  by  a  stuffed  owl  with  two  small  ruby  Ui^ts  set 
in  its  head,  was  silently  opened. 

The  visitor  sidled  in  past  a  screen  cmbrjssed  with 
a  skull-and-cross-bones  surrounded  by  an  ample  pa- 
rade of  what  appeared  to  be  interlocked  copperheads 
worked  in  lemon-y  'h?ff.  Then  he  edged  about  a 
bowl  of  goldfish  suspended  from  a  black  tripod  and 
found  himself  confronted  by  a  silent  and  motkoltia 
woman  in  an  elony-black  peignoir. 
This  woman  sat  behind  a  table  dn^ed  with 


50 


JH£  POOR  OF.  PREAEi 


r^im,  «8  wAUk  fiffl  aaodwr  suggestively  reptOioM 
Mgn  was  worked  k  beryl  green,  the  tnbtem  in 
tMt  CMC  being  that  of  a  dtanond-brxk  rattler 
gaged  in  biting  its  own  tail  Ota  tiie  tabic  beliind 
which  the  woman  sat  as  taeMtts$  as  an  Egyptian 
idd  itood  a  green  jade  rase  hi  ^hich  tmoi^ied 
fhrw  JaiMnese  punk-stidti.  BaiUt  it,  oa  a  braoae 
tripod  cnibossad  with  snatai,  stood  a  glass  globe, 
iridiictal  hi  th»  shadowy  md  vmmttim  %fat  of  the 
«nrti^Hd  room.  PMfaif  it  ww  a  hMean  sIeiA  on  a 
Mack  phah  pad  anbioidmd  wi&  tfK  ^8  of  the 
Zo^  white  betoi  the  dwB  stacd  a  fiaachette,  a 
padt  of  greea^MciBed  ph^rinf^aids*  a  tes^aer  tiay 
of  what  ^p«ued  to  bt 'MteoBS^'*  and  as  astro- 
nonical  chart  of  dte  hwivciM,  fraud  and  under 
sdass. 

The  newcomer's  pensivt  fue,  however,  was 
rected  more  toward  the  pimiibii  than  toward 
significantly  arrayed  aoeessedas. 

As  this  woman's  %tfe  was  badcsi  by  the  dusky 
curtams  of  a  materializhif  cahhiet,  and  her  heavily 

massed  hair  was  ^f  as  4Hii  as  tee  oatatns,  tha 
ooptrastmg  paBor  ^  her  face,  wtf  whitemt  J 
rirf  pnwdci,  produced  aw  iiiipi'W9iea^^  i^jproa^^ 


THE  DOCK  OF  mMid>  51 


This  hnprtt^kxi  of  wta nnlnen  was  in  no  way 

mitigated  by  the  bl  pii^neitt  whkli  liad  been  added 
to  the  elongated  cydids  or  by  the  wothui'i  studied 
Mi^tade  of  languor  md  aSooimm  or  by  tiie  fixed 
state  with  which  her  m>^r  t  ^  and  half-doeed 
eye  ate  ^elcd  iter  ciTiw  Hii  ^ris^or  hi  msty  Made. 

Hdt  i^s^er,  however  oj^i  into  a  diair  Hadng 
Ae  yooBf  seeias.  Be  '  her  and  her  iiir> 

TOWdiofs  wink  a  nod  oi  yetm  ^ifptc  it  Then  ha 
tBtkcmkm^gm^  ^ee^wded to liglit i . 

P»r  om  Met  mooMt  the  nyttie^md  aeemi 
wi^diet  lohad  for  movement  Then  ihe 

nsak  V  nxply  bm  :  m  her  chair. 

''Huily-geef  4m  tuddenly  ejactdated.  The  Uv 
'  eyes  v    -  now  atari^  and  wideK)pene* 
Thenr  owt    ^  a  r  of  esoteric  mystery  itiddenly  evs^ 
oe^ed,  p        lOee  a  soi^>4nd)ble  by  that  one  be- 
tra¥«g  Cfc^  laation. 

e,  if  it  am't  old  y/m^  hhnsdf  r 

%  mmk  looked  quickly  yet  casually  about,  to 
1  ke  sttie  they  were  akme.  '*S&dl%*'  he  solemnly 
mi^nam-  I,  yoli'fe&ef 

''W^.  ua'^Mtn'tittwaylkMlEt  BotitUnd 
^  sets  me  uiv  Wf8^  to  kmp  ^  map  Qt 
yowir  She  stared  at  hkBloof  and  hungrily.  Jheo 


52         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


she  sat  back  with  an  audible  tii^.  "I  guest  yuh  ain't 
back  none  too  soon  1" 

"Why?"  asked  Wilsnach. 

"B'cause  yuh're  sure  goin'  to  lose  your  little  stick- 
up,  if  yuh  leave  her  long  in  this  dun^l" 

"Anything  happened?" 

"Yes.  tots!  And  here's  a  letter  Kestnor  sent  on 
for  yuh." 

Wilsnach  took  the  note  from  her  hand.  But  he 
stood  smiling  down  at  her,  .without  breakis^  the 
envelope's  seal. 

"Sadie,  you're  fine  I"  he  repeated. 

"Fine  I"  she  cried,  with  a  hoot  of  derision.  "I 
yns  more'n  that.  I  was  dog-goned  near  fmedf* 

"Wait,"  conunanded  Wilsnach.  "What  was  it  I 
told  you  about  that  enunciation  of  yourt^' 

"Oh,  gee,  teacher,  I  just  gotta  denomoe  a  while 
b'fore  I  can  stop  to  pr'nouncel  I  always  get  weak 
on  the  English  when  I  get  indignant  And  I've 
been  some  little  bob<at  for  the  higtiiniMiii  o'  this 
swamp !" 

"But  why  were  you  nearly  fined 

"Well,"  began  the  seeress,  with  an  abandoned 
rush  of  words  that  contrasted  strangely  with  her 
earlier  zis  of  immobaity,  "I  hadn't  baoi  Mack  19  2a 


THE  DOOR  of;  DREAD  53 


tiiis  dram  t«ro  dftyi  b'lbn  a  flatly  hn^  ne  atn^ 
•ifn  and  blew  in  for  a  tiro-dollar  pafaa^^  So 
I  took  'im  bgr  the  mitt  and  nLi  ht  was  mre  foia'  to 
main  a  jooroey  MOB.  And  lie  ats  to  me, 'EiGcaae 
me,  miss,  but  yah're  tlie  gay  wiio^a  foo^  to  do 
tis?elm'!  And  it'i  foia'  to  be  riglit  over  to  tbe 
Island,'  he  tea,  'for  Tm  a  plaii»-dodiei  man  horn 
Hcadqnartertr  Seeia' Kettner  and  yidi'd  told  me 
Fcdi  had  cv'tythsng  fixt,  I  ghw  him  tiw  ^aa^ 
eye  and  aei^ 'Nix,  hoiMH»y,  six!  Save  ^  for 
the  web-foots,*  set  I,  'for  Fm  h^  to  tide  hnrf  and 
what  jvh  Idn  poS  over  on  the  diief  t  I  ain*t  been 
hibeiBatlB'  ap-Hate  wif  the  h^^toami,  eoa,  aad  I 
wooldn't  be  odnmdof  tida  oT  ttoff  if  I  diM  haw 
purtectioar  'W^'aesdieiBl^.Aoiffaifhiabadii, 
Vuh'd  better  aaad  hi  a  hony  adilor  tei  yoflaelfair 
apiriti,  for  I'm  fofai' to  pdMT  jroh  hv  Md  rtefoi^ 
todoitrightaowt  Sof^jPooratnaMaiiosf 

«Wbgr  ^dnai  yott  do  aa  iM  Hdi  aad  flma  Bm- 

diyr 

'Tha(t  gfadc  woolda^  kt  ne  fif  near  a  ffcoQi^  Bor 
git  long  enoQili  oof  s  hie  to  alo«r  amgr  a  hmc 
o'smokea.  Ht  towtd  ma  acfoait  to  Bi||ir  Ammo 
b'fore  hi  mm  arilad  to  lii  at  «di « tttL 
Hi     Jwr  tidqi^  tittterapaiita  a  «op  toOM 


54         THE  DCX)R  OF  DREAP 


along.  That  cop  sez,  'Whadda  yuh  doin'  wit*  the 
skirt,  Tim?'  The  gink  climbs  in  beside  me.  'Pinch- 
in*  her  fur  palm-readin*,'  he  sez,  as  he  waves  for  the 
driver  to  git  under  way.  And  that  cop  was  all  that 
saved  me  from  being  disgraced  for  life!  He  put  a 
hand  on  me  friend's  arm  and  sez,  'Nuttin*  doin*, 
Tim!  If  they  hadn't  jus'  brought  yuh  in  from  the 
goat-cliffs  yuh'd  a-knowed  the  green  lamps  was  giv- 
in'  this  lady  the  wink !  She's  a  federal  plant,  son, 
and  yuh'd  better  git  her  back  before  the  whole  ward 
gives  yuh  the  laugh!'  And  he  got  me  back.  But 
when  I  got  back  I  was  so  hot  tmder  the  collar  I 
cudda  jumped  the  Service  for  Hfe!" 

"We  all  have  our  troubles,  Sadie,  at  work  like 
this,"  soothed  Wilsnach,"  as  he  studied  her  pert 
young  face.  He  realized,  as  he  watched  her,  that 
the  very  audacities  which  had  once  made  her  a  try- 
ing enemy  were  converting  her  into  an  invaluable 
colleague. 

"But  this  stall's  bin  trouble  from  the  first  crack 
out  o'  the  box!"  complained  the  young  seeress  as 
she  lighted  a  cork-tip  cigarette.  "It's  easy  enough  to 
say  not  to  talk  and  jus'  feed  your  sucker  list  on  a 
few  Mong-jews  and  Wollas  and  Sack-rays,  for  to 
make^'em  think  I'm  French.  But  I  ain't  no  more 


THE  DOOR  OF  DBSAJQ  SS 


French  'n  a  Frankftsrter,  and  I  can't  git  away  wit' 
it!  I  jus*  can't r 
•Then  you've  already  had  visitors?" 
'^Visitors?   Say,  a  street-sign  like  mine  brings 
the  nuts  down  like  an  October  black-frost !  Gee,  but 
the  ginks  yuh  bump  into  at  this  game  I   The  first 
ol*  guy  who  got  a  dollar  readin'  turned  confidential 
and  Mid  he  was  a  widower  and  wanted  me  to  join 
him  in  a  Back-to-Natcher  Society  and  take  dew-, 
baths  m  his  back  yard.  Then  a  fat  Swede  who'd 
been  a  ring-thief  in  a  Turkish-bath  joint  wanted  me 
to  work  the  Riviera  wit'  him  as  a  hotel-sneak.  Then 
a  lit  woman  wit'  three  chins  and  no  lap,  the  same 
dalmtn*  to  be  the  slickest  clairvoyant  on  the  Island, 
pleaded  to  know  ius'  how  I  could  git  p'lice  purtcc- 
tion,  especially  wit'  a  face  like  mine  I  The  ol*  catl 
Then  a  yelkm-faced  undertaker  wit'  a  front  yard 
fuB  o*  spinach  and  a  white  string-tie  wanted  me  for 
his  hoosdteeper  up  in  Syracuse.  Natcherally,  I  said 
mitlhi'  doin',  Grandpawl" 

**Go  onf"  prompted  Wilsnach. 

*Then  a  mutt  in  the  sash,  door  and  blind  trade 
waate  ;^  'o  move  in  wit'  his  trunks,  bein'  soused  to 
tfie  .  and  tempor'ry  furgittin*  home  and  mother 
tyiiilthka.  ZuleikaxoUedhimdoinithefl^aBd 


5J 


THE  DCX)R  OF  DREAD 


kit  him  ciyin'  ag'tnst  a  hydmifc  fit  to  break 
heart!  Then  a  mulatto  lady  bookmaker  ccnne  in  to 
git  me  to  dream  traek-mmibert  for  her.  So  fai  me 
off  thne  Tm  nukin' a  atab  at  piddn' ^  dftuit  win- 
ner!. Then  another  waahed^  ol'  gny  wif  a  fat- 
cnted  Elixir  O*  Life  wanted  me  to  nm  his  Second 
Ark  C  The  Sacred  Elect  and  be  his  q»rit-wife  am 
At  nde.  I  tc^  him  to  git  readjr  for  the  grave 
b'fore  h»  mind  went  any  woner 
"Is  tint  anr 

'^otbyafeogdiotl  Yetterdqr  a  eoople  o'  prO" 
moten  dropped  in.  Oat  wurtcd  ow  Im*  a  come-on 
to  a  company  o' hit  to  mtke  bfeod  ofai^  bj  ttab- 
hin"cm  wif  a  nee^fd  o' nodw^  and  Nd  ni- 
foe.  The  other  hid  doped  out  a  Kheme  for  omW 
a  miffion  or  two  hi^ortin' the  GaUHoaian  hd^^rt 
to  kill  an  the  hofi-wieva  out  o'  the  ootton  ebUti. 
He  offered  to  iplit  cm  utiI  jejr  tmrrtln*  f  ■piiimi 
if  rd  get  oat  and  kibbgr  for  Hate  gnmb.  Then  a 
widow  come  in  f c«  a  mtmpi  from  her  '*«*^»imd, 
and  got  ciyia' aS  over  the  piaoe  OBta  I  hadda  wm 
her  aha  was  apottm'  me  phtab^Mi.  I  give  her 

bade  her  moMgr  and  told  her  tfiia  apirit-fappm*  gMw 
waaaUbmik.  Than  a  coopla  o^  laifera  oona  in  fram 
tfttMsvyYat^Md— " 


THE  DCX)R  OF  DREAD  S7 


"Sailors?**  snapped  out  ^ilsnadu 

Sadie  dashed  his  hopes.  They  was  soased  to  the 
gilla—wone'ii  the  sash  and  door  guy  1  Thexwatto 
lit  up  I  diort-dumged  *em  a  couple  o'  bonei,  jus*  lor 
squeezin'  toe  hand  durin'  busineas  hoars  T 

There  doesn't  seem  to  be  nnxh  fofttt  to  wofk  OS 
m  that  groiq),'*  meditau^  Wikiiadi,  after  a  moi^ 
or  two  of  ttlenoe. 

"Vnmt  I  wantta  know,**  demanded  Sadie, 
him  with  a  rebdUous  eje,  "is  jus*  whj  I'm  pbiited 
here^  and  jw'  what  food  Ym  dokt  H  iNa  pahn- 
fcadin*  fufff 

There's  a  reason  lor  it,  Sadies  nd  tiie  nMoa  ii 
this:  W^ve  got  to  nkt  1M»  \ig  aty  far  m  mm 
named  Doffui.  We  don't  know  wkera  ka  iib  or 
where  he's  headed  lor.  AS  we  know  la  tSnH  k^ 
hidden  awi^  somewhere  ki  New  YoIl'* 

iiriiere  d*  I  eone  hi?"  dmuttied  tkaaeefiM. 

Ton  oome  In  as  tiie  deoogMfnck  who's  going  to 
persoade  the  gon^  ilnni«r  to  d^  dm  kito 
yw  neighbothood.  For  before  ^  nan  can«  to 
onr  dty,  Kestner  teOa  m^  he'd  been  coondttng  n 
ioftene-t^er  ouned  Madame  Fatickiari.'' 

Tkcn  I  imi't  the  one  and  oo^r  dsnMMiad  Site 
^Wkap^  w^  a  tetmet  note  of  dis^ipoaitmnt 


58  THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


"No,  you're  merely  the  om  pmMiar  kind  of  fly 
our  particular  kind  of  fidi  «^  rise  to.  I  nmn  by 
that,  Sadie,  that  if  oar  aHHi  aces  yoor  ngn,  or  stum- 
bles across  your  newaptfcr  advertising;  it's  reason- 
able to  assume  he'll  cotoe  out  of  hiding  and  try  to 
have  a  talk  with  you." 

"I  don't  quite  git  that!"  objected  Sadie. 

"You're  his  fmnd  of  other  days,'*  explained 
Wilsnach.  "You  me  fats  adnwr  befoie  he  went 
under  cover." 

"Then  why'd  he  go  vaa6et  oavtrT* 

"Because  ten  days  ago  when  he  was  fired  from 
the  Sinclair  Steel  Plant  he  stole  a  baadle  of  chart 
piaas  <rf  one  of  our  Navy  boa^  Ttat  boat's  our 
new  long-cruising  submarine  loRnm  as  the  Car^ 
MoiOh  Submersible.  It's  ca&ed  thi^  because  it  has 
a  system  of  air-valve  tjtcton  tor  am-laying  and 
a  perfected  nwdianwn  for  tahs^  ott  fr^  s^p^ies 
along  the  sea-bottom.  Tfaat  gives  it  a  ninety-day 
cruismg  radius  without  any  need  of  returning  to  its 
base,  in  time  of  war.  Doi^^giA^^ose  Jn 
the  same  bunch  he  also  got  tiiejKw  iNqpoot  nmgtm^ 
detector,  for  indicate  under  wi^^  ^ipniadi  of 
any  ironclad.   ^  ij^mt^tj^m^^ 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD.  59 

ham         doottiOy  ^paMtd  toKfe^ 
PmIc  em  anM.** 

Thn  Hii  gigr  DeciM't  a  ifj  r 

tXd  mm  Sktdair  oontoidt  DoffMi  im*t  a  paid 
•ffent,  but  mwdyamw  IiMid  wi»  tried  to  get  tvta 
with  the  emapmxy  by  mifiag  aqgr  office-papen  be 
coidd  gnb  vMe  wa^ig  femd  far  hb  pay  envelope, 
after  betng  find.  Stedafa*  lie  on't  even  know: 
the  value  of  Hme  pi^crt,  for  met  of  tiM  wofk  vat 
done  m  hood  and  tader  gawtsaam  hMpedon. 
That* 8  a  ira  can't  be  rare  of.  Bm  there  It 
one  nu^  we  cm  be  «ae  of,  aai  tiiat  It  that  for 
thew  peperi  2>i»f^  C0«trf  ^  a  fMorter  a/ c 

"BM  na  «p  r  bnaihed  ool  m  ftnaaed  StOk 
WhBpd. 

'^KcirtBif'a  biKef  it  tiitt  Dmihi  wat  actodl^ 
phnled  at  Shiddr  Worio.  thtie^a  a  kfadc  or 
twokDoffBi'tieeofd.  Wekaovthathaorl^i^ 
came  from  the  gtiwnimat  gm  luetoriet  at  Water* 
vieit,  he  waa  ioiiie  tik  oKNidit  at  Ifoi^ert 
Ke«t»  nd  thit  ha  iMB  did  worfi  ea  the  Mir^Miwi 
hi^Biwiii^Kavy  Yard  Thit  doai^  hnh  lin 
»fiMit  Bat  he  nay  have  been  after  tDoiething 


00  JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

wmHi  !waitiBf  a  coi^le  of  yem  for.  The  woni 
kink  in  hit  record,  thoui^,  is  that  Dorgan  became 
a  pool-room  habitat" 
Th^yio*  ^  poniesr 

Tes;  and  through  he  got  to  nes^ect  his  W(»k 
and  was  finally  discharged.  It  was  this  woman 
named  Fatichiara  who  gave  him  tradc-retum  tips. 
Thafs  abont  an  we  know,  except  one  thing.  And 
tint  one  thing  is  that  Keudell  and  his  gang  would 
cot  this  man's  throat  as  quick  as  they'd  strike  a 
matdi  once  they  thought  those  |4ans  were  within 
their  rcadir 

•*How  d'  yuh  know  he  ahi't  gsynattin*  for  Keu- 
ddl  right  alongr  demanded  Sadie. 

''Because  Keoddl  doesn't  appear  to  have  been  on 
trafl  two  months,  let  ahme  two  years.  There 
nqr  have  been  others,  It's  true.  But  Kestner  wired 
me  diat  he'd  got  enoui^  tips  from  the  Madame  Gaiw 
filer  pi^  to  show  that  Keuddl  himsdf  had  hud  a 
number  of  ropes.  And  those  ai«  the  thhigs  weVa 
got  to  tract  npr 

.The  mentkm  of  Madame  Qunier's  name  took  Us 
tiious^  bade  to  the  letter  whidi  he  stifl  hdd  va- 
opeoed  hi  his  Imni.  Sadie  Wlmpd  sat  iesentft% 
waidiing  him  as  he  tore  the  end  from  the  envekipe 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  61 


and  unfolded  a  sheet  of  paper  on  yrhidn,  a  y^*rffr*g 
from  a  newspaper  was  pasted. 

"From  the  Los  Angeles  Times/*  he  said  aloud  as 
he  made  note  of  a  brief  inscription  at  the  bottom. 

But  Sadie's  thoughts,  at  the  moment^  were  not 
concerned  with  that  communication. 

"It's  all  right  t'  talk  about  tradn*  up  these  things, 
but  that  kind  o'  tracin'  takes  yuh  through  a  stack  o' 
rough-neck  work,  and  yuh  know  it  as  Well  aa  I  dot 
The  slooth-king  who  sits  in  a  swivd-chaii;  and 
rounds  up  the  big  crook  by  tappin'  a  two-stoty  bean 
is  all  right  for  the  movies,  but  it  won't  go  in  real 
life.  And  if  yuh  ain't  ready  to  get  your  roof  tort 
off  yuh'd  better  can  your  hide-and-aeek  gum  urit* 
the  Big  House  boys !" 

"Just  a  minute !"  expostulated  Wilsnach,  ^«ooeii- 
pied  with  his  sheet  of  paper. 

"What's  the  dope,  anyway?"  demanded  Sadie^ 
blinking  at  the  sudden  solemnity  of  Wilsnach's  facc^ 
as  he  stared  abstractedly  across  the  table  at  her. 

"Listen,"  he  said,  turning  back  to  the  dipi^ 
which  he  held  in  his  hand.  Then  he  read  aloud: 

"To  the  long  list  of  Pacific  Coast  aviation  acci- 
dents must  be  added  still  another  fatality.  Early 
tiut  momh^  Lieirtenam-Coloiid  Alfred  Diehma, 
svfao  had  been  cooperating  wisk  iht  Jfygwy  AHtOm 


62         THE  DOOR  OF!  DREAD 

Corps  at  San  Diego,  together  with  Madame  The- 
ophile  Garnier,  the  wife  of  a  Continental  inventor, 
met  their  death  in  the  Padfic.  Ths  acddent 
occurred  while  Colonel  Diehms  was  experimenting 
with  the  new  Gamier  gyroscopic  stabilizer  for  air- 
craft The  trial,  which  was  under  governmental  su- 
pervitton,  involved  an  altitude-test  with  passenger. 
At  an  estimated  height  of  about  five  thousand  feet 
the  machine  was  seen  suddenly  to  dip  and  fall.  As, 
tmfMtonately,  both  pilot  and  passenger  had  neg- 
lected to  ivcar  life-belts,  nettiber  bod^  liat  been  le- 
ooverea  •  .  . 

It  was  Sadie  who  spoke  up  out  of  the  silence. 

"Yuh  don't  mean  to  say  that  Kestner  codced  up 
that  end  for'em?" 

Wilsnach  looked  at  her  out  of  unseeing  eyes. 
Then  he  slowly  nodded  his  head. 

"I  suppose  it  was  the  best  way  I"  he  meditated 
aloud. 

"HuUy  gee,"  Sadie  cried,  as  she  sat  absorbing  the 
significance  of  the  words  to  which  she  had  been  lis- 
tening, "ain't  that  just  what  I've  been  tryin*  to  tell 
yuh?  Don't  that  show  yuh  it's  just  dog  cat  dog, 
and  the  Old  Boy  take  the  guy  who's  too  good  to 
sneak  a  chance  ?" 

Wilsnach,  at  the  moment,  was  remembering  what 
Kestittr,  only  one  short  week  before,  had  said  to 


TH£  IXX>R  OP  DREAD  63 


him  about  Service  work.  And  it  yn»  with  an  effort 
that  he  pulled  himself  together. 

"Well,  Sadie,  no  matter  what  kind  of  work  it  is, 
we're  in  it,  and  we've  got  to  go  through  with  it! 
And  the  sooner  >\  e  get  down  to  tin  tacks  the  better  I" 

"I  ain't  delayin'  yuh!"  announced  the  young 
woman  beside  the  crystal-gazer's  globe.  But  for 
the  fraction  of  a  moment  a  faint  shadow  hung  about 
her  face,  a  shadow  of  disappointment,  apparently, 
at  his  calmly  nuKuline  eagemesi  to  eicape  to  the 
impersonal. 

"We've  got  to  remember  why  you're  here,  and 
why  I'm  here.  And  the  answer  is,  KeudeU.  And 
our  hopes  of  finding  Keudell  seem  to  hang  on  just 
one  thin  thread:  that  somewhere  in  this  dt/  is  • 
thief  who's  stolen  papers  which  he  can't  tmload,  im- 
less  he  unloads  them  on  Keudell.  And  if  we  can't 
find  the  thief,  we've  got  to  find  KeudeU,  or  the  peo- 
ple who  are  acting  for  Keudell." 

"Then  why  wasn't  I  give  a  descriptioa  of  this  gujf 
called  Dorgan?" 

"Because  there  wasn't  time,  for  one  thing,  and, 
for  another,  Romano's  been  covering  your  house 
and  would  never  *ve  let  him  get  away  before  I  had 
a  chance  to  get  here.  But  I'm  fung  to  iieicribe  tiw 


m         THE  DOOR  <XP,  DREAD 


nan,  in  case  any  of  us  should  miss  him.  Dorgan's 
a  mechanic,  remember,  and  he's  about  thirty  years 
old.  lie's  wide-shouldered  and  rather  short,  with 
curly  black  hair,  cut  close.  His  ears  stick  out  a  little, 
and  one  of  them  is  mushroomed,  for  he  worked  in 
the  prize-ring  for  a  couple  of  winters.  Then — " 

"Wait!"  suddenly  announced  Sadie.  The  faint 
purr  of  a  desk-buzzer  had  sounded  behind  her  black- 
draped  table.  She  bent  her  head  and  watched  the 
quick  play  of  the  vari-colored  electric  globes  of  her 
tiny  annunciator. 

**Hully  gee,"  she  murmured,  as  she  hid  away  the 
end  of  her  cigarette,  "here's  a  hob-nail  comin'  for  a 
readin*.  And  Zuleika's  pushin'  the  double-green  to 
say  he's  a  guy  worth  watchin'l" 

Wilsnach,  who  was  already  on  his  feet,  circled 
about  the  table  and  lifted  the  black  velvet  drapery 
of  the  cabinet. 

"I'll  wait  here  until  your  man  goes,"  he  quietly 
announced. 

Sadie,  reverting  to  her  posture  of  esoteric  impas- 
sivity, intoned  a  solemn  "Ong-tray-voot"  in  answer 
to  the  questioning  knock  on  the  door. 

That  door  promptly  opened  and  a  man  stepped 
into  the  room.  He  carried  his  hat  in  his  hand,  and 


THE  DOM  W  DREAD  m 


Sadie  could  see  the  black  hair  that  curled  about  the 
edges  of  his  outstanding  ears.  He  was  half-way 
across  the  room  before  he  stopped,  hesitated  and 
then  slowly  advanced  toward  the  vacant  chair  that 
faced  the  table,  g  jping  for  it  with  an  abstracted 
hand  as  he  stared  into  the  woman's  heavily  pow- 
dered face.  Then  he  sat  down  in  the  ch  lir. 

''You  ain't  Fannie  Fatichiara!"  he  ttMidenly  and 
deiiberitely  announced. 

"Ain't  I?"  murmured  the  impassive-eyed  Sadie. 

"You're  a  faker!"  announced  the  itnuigar,  itad- 
denly  leaning  forward  in  his  chair. 

Sadie's  somnolent  eye  wri^  languid  with  scorn. 

"If  any  she-cat's  been  b  'n  my  name,"  she  ma- 
jestically proclaimed,  "I'll  v  i  r  outta  Witi^ 
b'fore  she  kin  squeal  for  1  '1  ■  ' 

The  man  sniffed.  "You  smoke  cigars?"  be  de- 
manded. 

"No,"  was  Sadie's  languid  retort.  "But  I  gue«s 
that  pool-room  king  I'm  picki.  vrinncrs  foi  kin 
maybe  blow  hisself  to  an  occasio  lal  purfecto!" 

"You  ain't  Fannie  Fatichiara !"  doggedly  i^Kated 
the  newcomer. 

The  woman  behind  the  black-draped  ^  ible  sud- 
den^ k»t  the  last  of  her  nu^^stic  mieii.  "WdVil 


66         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


I  ain't  Fannie  Fatidiiara,"  she  challenged,  "I  jus* 
wish  yuh'd  lead  me  to  herf 

The  man  pondered  this  for  a  moment  Heseemed 
puzzled.  "AU  right/'  he  suddenly  announced. 

It  WMS  Sadie's  turn  to  ponder  the  problem  so  un- 
eqwctedly  confronting  her.  "When?"  she  inquired. 

''Any  old  timet"  promptly  decfaued  the  visitor. 

Again  Sadie  pondered.  "Howll  we  go?"  she 
ten^ponzed. 

**We11  go  in  a  taxi,  by  gum,"  was  the  altogether 
redckss  answer,  "and  the  sooner  the  better  F' 

Sadie  drew  her  sable  wrappings  together  and  rose 
with  bodi  dignity  and  determination  to  her  feet. 

"Then  yuh  wait  imtil  I  grab  me  hat  and  mitts," 
sl»  exfdained  to  him. 

She  stepped  back  and  slipped  in  under  Iht  draped 
curtains  of  die  cabinet  front  There  Wilsnach 
caus^  her  by  the  arm,  his  lips  dose  to  her  ear. 

"Follow  tiut  man  V  was  his  fierce  whisper.  "Keep 
with  ham  to  the  bst  gasp.  For  that's  the  thief  who 
rt(de  our  Navy  plans  f 

"Then  gimme  a  gun,"  whispered  back  the  unper- 
turbed Sadie,  before  stepping  out  through  the  sec- 
ond tier  of  curtains  at  the  cabinet  back.  "For  Vm 
goin'  to  make  good  on  this  case  or  quit  the  Service  1". 


CHAPTER  FIVE 


SADIE  WIMPEL  leaned  back  la  the  taxscab 
with  a  titter  of  care-free  amusement.  That 
w(M4dly-<wiae  young  lady  had  long  stnoe  kanied  to 
preserve  an  outward  calm  during  her  momentt  of 
inward  tension.  She  experienced  a  desire  to  powder 
her  nose,  but  there  were  reaaoos,  she  knew,  why  it 
would  be  better  not  to  open  up  the  hand-bag  Aitt 
lay  on  her  lap.  So  she  merely  tktefcd  again. 

Her  pertly  insouciant  face  seemed  to  puzzle  tilt 
man  at  her  side.  He  studied  the  azure-lidded  eyes 
and  the  rouge-farigfatened  lipi,  atudied  tlMm  yikk  m 
frank  and  open  curiosity. 

"Do  you  know  whtK  you're  goia§r*  be  tail|y 
asked. 

"Nope,  but  I'm  on  my  way,"  waa  Sadia'i  blttli^ 
irresponsible  reply. 

For  the  second  time  the  man  beside  her  turned 
and  studied  her  face.  "You've  certainly  got  Mm  T* 
he  ilowly 

0 


68         THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


"Ynh've  gotta  have  nenre,"  conceded  Sadie, 
"when  yuh're  scratdun'  for  yourself  T* 

"It  ain't  always  easy  scratching,  is  it?"  he  ki- 
quired,  with  a  note  of  newly  awakened  hope  in  hit 
Toke. 

"Nott^akmgshotr 

Her  conqianion  still  hesitated.  "Maybe  I  cotdd 
make  it  easfer  for  you/'  he  finally  suggested,  though 
fttook  an  effort  for  him  to  say  the  words. 

"Howr  hmguidly  inquired  the  woman. 

"in  tdl  yon  that  in  about  ten  minutes'  time." 
Then  he  added,  in  audible  afterthought,  "I  guess 
I'm  kind  of  up  against  it  mysdf  f  * 

He  said  no  more,  for  the  cab  had  stopped  before 
a  smister-ktoking  brownstdne-frooted  house  wiA 
cnr^ined  wmctows  md  an  uroo-grilled  door. 

SadM  dul  not  altogether  Wn  tiie  appearance  of 
that  house.  It  kwked  like  a  plaee,  she  promptly 
condnded,  wlwre  anything  might  happen.  Birt  At 
gave  no  sign  of  her  seoret  misgivings. 

"So  here's  where  we  wade  h&T*  was  her  careless 
chirp  as  she  stepped  from  the  cab  and  foNowed  the 
stranger  up  the  tMrown^om  sl^  swinging  her 
hami-bag  as  ^  wc^ 

She  wished  him  as  he  rang  the  bell,  notliif  tfM 


THE  DOOR  OF.  imAS  m 

two  short  and  the  two  long  pushes  of  his  finger 
against  the  little  button.  Then  she  turned  and 
glanced  carelessly  about  at  the  house-front  windows, 
making  note  of  the  fact  that  they  were  barred  by  a 
grille  work  which,  if  airily  ornamental,  was  none 
the  less  substantial. 

Tliere  was  a  wait  of  some  time  before  the  door 
itself  was  opened.  It  was  opened  by  an  oddly  hir- 
sute man  in  the  service-coat  of  a  butler.  Sadie, 
whose  quick  eyes  had  taken  him  in  at  a  glance,  found 
him  almost  as  tmprepossessing  as  the  house  itself. 
He  was  a  peculiarly  large-boned  and  muscular-look- 
fng  man,  with  his  hairy  skin  singularly  suggestive 
of  a  gorilla.  His  eyes  seemed  much  too  small  for 
hit  heavy-jowled  face,  and  about  their  haggard  cor- 
am) WM  •  toudi  of  animal-like  pathos.  Yet  about 
thoM  eyes  was  something  sullen  and  reserved,  some- 
thing heavily  taciturn,  something  which  left  the 
whoit  face  as  blank  at  the  front  of  the  curtain- 
wMywed  hottie  itself. 

"Where's  the  boss  ?"  asked  the  man  who  had  niaf 

•adie  watched  both  of  them  closely,  determined 
#Mt  no  secret  message  t  sign  ^ould  peM  between 
$imw^(kmhn\imtytt^k.  But  there  seemed  so 


70  THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD. 


bmk  in  the  irteely  enmity  of  the  servant's  dtedy 

'Tht  boss  is  hmy**  he  cur^  annotmced. 
**Wdl,  he's  expecting  me,"  corfdentially  an- 

Itoth  of  your  inqnhmi  the  man  iasMe  the  door, 
ayiwiiiitflj  without  so  mtA  m  a  dhfect  look  at 
woRiMi  widi  the  cardessly  swinging  handbag. 

Tes,  I  gwss  well  botfi  oonae  ku"  The  words 
wope  innhfn  casually.  Bat  for  aQ  thcu*  uuielniiis 
thev  sflcincJ  to  carry  tlw  wei^M:  etf  as  lAtei^twk 

The  large4x)acd  »an  at  ^  door  haaililsd  lor 
one  Moment.  Then  he  stepped  bade,  wMiAed  the 
two  visitors  pass  krto  the  Mway  and  earefufiy 
nd  quietly  dosed  the  heairy  dout  hihinJ  ten. 

"Th^B  (jK&xf"  ^AoMiptTtA  Dorgan  oak  of  one 

"Ak/t  he  Ike  aav  old  magT  fcmaricad  Sadie 

To  that  alMt-eyed  yotmg  woman  tiiere  seemed 
sonsddof  ofliMns  in  the  sm^  of  the  dosmg  dooi^s 
lock-har.  ft  sasmsd  M»  the  spring  of  a  ^ip  width 
might  be  cnttag  off  all  retreat  There  was  some- 
tiling  dungecm-lilGe  in  its  very  nowness. 

Her  st^,  however,  did  not  lose  any  of  its  fBact« 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  71 


free  resilience  as  she  followed  her  companion 
through  the  second  door  which  the  servant  had 
opened  for  them.  The  questioning  glance  she  turned 
on  that  companion,  once  the  room-door  had  closed 
on  them  again,  was  as  tranquil  as  ever. 

"What  kind  of  a  dump's  this,  anyway?"  she  casu- 
ally inquired. 

The  man,  who  had  tiptoed  to  the  door,  made  a 
gesture  for  silence.  He  pressed  an  car  against  the 
dark-wooded  panel  and  stood  there  listening.  Then 
he  turned  and  faced  her.  "You  wait  here  for  a  min- 
ute or  two,"  he  said  in  a  tone  so  low  she  could 
hardly  catch  the  words. 

She  stood  watching  him  as  he  silently  and  with 
the  utmost  precaution  opened  the  door  through 
which  they  had  just  passed.  Then  he  ck)sed  it  as 
quietly  behind  him. 

Yet  the  moment  that  door  was  shut  Sadie  Wira- 
pel's  manner  underwent  a  prompt  and  unequivocal 
change.  She  ran  to  the  windows  and  found  them 
kwked  and  barred,  as  she  had  expected.  Then  she 
■ileiitly  tried  the  second  door  at  the  back  of  the 
room.  That,  too,  she  found  to  be  securely  locked. 
Then  she  promptly  peeled  off  her  gloves  and  stowed 
ttei  away  in  her  hand-bag.   She  next  gave  the 


72         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


hidf  her  vaaMM  attentioa,  nakiiif  note  of 
tiw  faded  sud  diabby  fttniitiife^  of  the  white  tnantfl- 
I^ece  with  its  nloit  omioht  dodc,  of  the  wifee  fw 
the  can  and  li^^ting  drctiiti  whidb  ran  along  ^ 
broken  picture-mokling.  Then  the  took  one  of  the 
faded  chain,  pu^ied  it  against  the  wall  on  the  far- 
ther si<fe  of  the  room 

Whatever  happened,  she  preferred  knowing  there 
was  nothing  more  than  solid  roaaoory  at  her  bade 

Sht  was  sitting  there,  with  her  knees  crossed, 
when  the  door  was  once  more  sikntly  opened  and 
the  man  called  Dorgan  stepped  back  into  the  roooi. 
He  c&ine  quietly,  as  though  the  hoose  were  the  abodt 
of  sleepers  who  dare  not  be  awakened.  Yet  Sadie 
noticed  a  diange  in  his  face.  It  feoked  more  trou- 
bled. Theddnhadkwtthekstof  itsoi^kMirookMr. 
It  looked  oily,  like  the  skin  of  a  Unei^stoktr  dfanb- 
ing  deckward  f<Mr  a  breath  of  air.  Sie  noticed,  too, 
that  he  was  breathing  more  quiddy.  And  on  the 
low  forehead  she  could  see  a  faint  but  mwntitakabie 
dewing  of  sweat-drops. 

He  did  not  turn  and  qwak  to  her  for  several  mo- 
ments, apparently  intent  on  making  sure  his  return 
had  been  unobserved. 

Then,  ^  stancBng  at  the  door,  he  turned  and 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  73 


CO 


studied  the  young  woman  vith  the  pert  eyes  and  the 
carelessly  swinging  foot.  That  troubled  look  of  his 
seemed  one  of  appraisal. 

••What's  the  game?"  she  quietly  inquired. 

He  stepped  forward  as  she  spoke,  crossing  the 
itx«n  with  the  same  studied  quietness.  Yet  he 
shrugged  a  shoulder  as  he  stood  before  her,  as 
though  to  disguise  the  urgency,  the  apprehension, 
which  he  could  not  keep  from  his  eyes.  "I'm  get- 
ting leery  about  these  people  here,"  he  said  in  little 
more  than  a  whisper.  Then  he  stopped. 

*W»t's  the  game?"  repeated  the  patient-eyed 
woman. 

Tve  got  certain  documents  these  people  want  to 
get  hold  of.  They  want  them  bad,  but  they're  going 
to  pay  me  my  price  for  'em  I" 

Tour  troubles  is  interestin',"  quietly  admitted 
Sadie.  "But  I  came  here  to  see  the  dame  who  said 
I'd  crabbed  her  name." 

The  HKHst-browed  man  gave  a  gesture  of  impa- 
tioioe.  Then  he  grew  very  grave. 

**Lady,  I'm  going  to  be  very  honest  with  you. 
There's  trouble  ahead  of  me  in  this  house,  and  I'm 
not  ready  to  meet  it.  What  I  want  to  know  is,  are 
you  game  to  help  me  out?" 


74         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


He  tttraed  and  looked  at  the  door  at  thoogfa  to 
nuke  "xat  it  was  still  ckMed. 

'nVbadda  I  have  to  dor  demanded  Sadie.  "And 
whadda  I  get  out  of  it?** 

*^oa  play  your  cards  right  and  yoaH  get  about 
anything  you  want!  Can  I  count  on  you?" 

"Surer  assented  the  woman.  The  man  called 
Dorgan  drew  still  closer  to  her. 

*Tve  got  an  envdope  of  pliers  here  that  aren't 
worth  a  cent  to  anybody  but  the  fdks  they're  in- 
tended  for.  These  people  know  I've  got  them,  and 
they  may  get  nasty  over  it  Can  you  rtow  them 
away  until  the  coast  is  dear?" 

"And  then  what?"  asked  Sadie,  making  an  effort 
to  control  herself. 

"Get  away  yoursdf  as  soon  as  the  duuice  comes. 
Then  meet  me  k  your  rooms,  say  to-morrow  at 
five.** 

Sadie  ^ferred  to  seem  aoo-commtttaL  "And 
howH  I  get  away?"  she  demanded,  as  she  watched 
his  hand  indnuate  itself  in  under  his  vest  and  un- 
button a  pocket-fiap  there. 

"That's  what  I'm  going  out  tiiere  to  make  sure 
of.  Here's  the  stuff .  Can  you  take  care  of  it?" 

"Surer 


THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAQ 


7$ 


**Th'cn  quick!"  prompted  the  other  as  he  thrust 
a  long  manila  envelope  into  Sadie's  hand.  She  no- 
ticed, considerably  to  her  disappointroent,  that  it 
was  sealed. 

"Then  you  gaze  the  other  way,  son,  until  I  stow 
it  down  in  me  lisle-thread  safe,"  Sadie  requested, 
turning  her  face  so  that  he  might  not  see  the  sudden 
flash  of  triumph  which  she  was  unable  to  hide.  For 
she  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  she  had  the 
plans  of  the  secret  submarine  in  her  possession. 

"Quick!"  repeated  the  man  watching  the  door. 

There  was  a  rustic  of  drapery,  the  snap  of  an 
elastic  and  a  little  sigh  of  relief.  Then  the  two  con- 
spirators stood  facing  each  other  again. 

"What's  next?"  inquired  the  young  woman. 

"These  people  won't  imagine  I've  given  you  those 
papers,"  explained  the  man.  "So  they  won't  tty  to 
stop  you,  once  you  start  for  the  street." 

"Oh,  1  ain't  hungerin'  to  linger  round  a  drum  Uke 
this,  b'lieve  me !" 

"Then  wait  here  a  minute  or  two  until  I  come 
back,"  whispered  the  moist-browed  man.  "For  the 
sooner  you  can  beat  it  the  better." 

Sadie  watched  him  as  he  tiptoed  to  the  door,  as 
he  stood  listening  there,  as  he  cawtitmily  ttuaed  tibs 


76         THE  DOCm  OP  DREAD 

knob,  and  as  he  stepped  guardedly  out  and  closed 
the  door  behind  him. 

Then  she  stood  with  her  lips  shghtly  parted  and 
her  blue-stenciled  eyes  very  wi  le.  F<  <r  the  moment 
that  door  had  closed  there  came  to  her  ear  the 
sounds  of  a  sudden  struggle,  a  mufiicd  thud  of  feet, 
vague  concussions  of  the  flooring,  faint  gasps  and 
grunts,  telling  of  some  brief  and  wordless  struggle 
taking  place  in  the  hallway  immediately  (nitside  that 
door  which  had  so  recently  opc\icd  and  closed. 

Sadie  did  not  like  those  sounds.  They  reminded 
her  of  earlier  and  less  equable  days.  They  sent  a 
thousand  inousc-feet  of  alarm  scampering  up  her 
spinal  column.  But  they  also  brought  back  to  her 
a  sort  of  second  wind  of  audacity.  Her  hand  was 
quite  steady  as  she  opened  her  hand-bag  and  took 
Wilsnach's  revolver  from  its  hiding-place  there. 
Quite  steady,  too,  was  her  tread  as  she  advanced  to 
the  closed  door,  listened  there  and  then  pressed  a 
straining  ear  against  the  dark  panel,  as  Dorgan  him- 
self had  done. 

She  could  hear  nothing  more.  All  movement,  ap- 
parently, had  ceased.  But  she  waited,  listening  in- 
tently. The  silence  remained  unbroktn. 

The  quietness  of  that  house  of  mystery  no  longer 


THE  DOM  W  intEAD  77. 

puzzled  ker.  It  became  a  source  of  apprehension, 
of  actual  alarm.  Yet  she  compelled  herself  to  wait, 
changing  her  position  a  little  from  time  to  time,  to 
rest  her  straining  body.  Then  lU  furthtr  waitiiv 
became  unendurable. 

She  closed  her  hand  about  the  door-knob,  turning 
it  softly.  To  her  relief  she  found  the  door  still  un- 
locked. She  swung  it  back  an  inch  or  two,  peered 
out  and  opened  it  still  wider.  Then  she  stepped  into 
the  hall  itself.  She  stood  close  against  the  door- 
frame, staring  from  one  end  of  this  hall  to  tht  othtr. 

It  was  empty. 

ller  next  movement,  in  accordance  with  a  natural 
impulse  to  escape,  was  toward  the  street-door.  She 
sidled  forward  cautiously  and  silently,  until  she 
could  go  no  farther.  Then,  with  a  deep  breath,  she 
dropped  her  revolver  back  in  the  hand4)ig^  nadiad 
out  a  hand  and  turned  the  knob. 

But  the  door  refused  to  open.  It  was  securely 
locked,  and  in  it  she  could  find  no  trace  of  a  key. 
Close  as  she  was  to  the  open,  she  found  herself  shut 
off  from  the  street  by  an  iron  grilling  as  heavy  as 
cell-bars.  Yet  it  was  not  alarm  that  swept  throu|^ 
her.  It  was  more  a  wave  of  exasperation. 

She  stood  with  her  bick  to  tht  door,  stttdyiof  tht 


MICROCOTY  RESOIUTION  TEST  CHAIT 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


78  THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


gloomy  house  confronting  her.  Nothing,  she  de- 
cided, was  to  be  gained  by  inaction.  If  she  could 
not  get  out  one  way,  she  would  proceed  to  find  an- 
other. Yet  she  hesitated  to  advance  deeper  into  that 
field  of  possible  ambush,  into  territory  which  might 
be  bristling  with  danger. 

She  stood  there,  with  her  pert  young  face 
wrinkled  up,  carefully  weighing  what  doors  to  try 
first  and  what  line  of  retreat  to  take  up  ia  case  of 
surprise. 

Instead  of  advancing,  however,  she  suddenly 
shrank  deeper  into  her  corner,  for  close  beside  her 
she  heard  the  sound  of  a  key  being  thrust  into  the 
heavy  iron  door-lock.  She  waited,  breathless,  as 
this  key  was  turned  back  and  the  old-fashioned  lock- 
bar  released. 

The  next  moment  the  door  itself  swung  open  and 
a  man  stepped  quickly  inside. 

She  stood  crouched  back  behind  the  half-opened 
door,  hoping  against  hope  that  the  newcomer  would 
pass  on  without  locking  the  doors  and  without  catch- 
ing sight  of  her  in  the  uncertain  light. 

But  in  this  hope  she  was  disappointed.  The 
stranger  quickly  closed  the  door,  stooped  forward 
a  little  as  he  thrust  the  key  into  its  hole,  and  then 


THE  DOt.R  OF  DREAQ 


79 


swung  about  on  her  with  a  startled  little  noise  in  his 
throat,  strangely  like  the  grunt  of  a  feeding  pig  con- 
fronted by  a  farm-conie. 

Yet  he  stared  at  her  quietly  enough,  without  airjr 
further  movement  of  tiie  body.  Sadie  Winqid, 
equally  motionless,  stared  bade  at  the  man  conf  ront- 
ing  her.  He  was  big  and  blond,  with  yellow  eye- 
lashes and  a  number  of  small  intersecting  scars  on 
either  chedc 

She  knew,  even  before  sAnt  CQnq)leted  her  staAy 
of  the  grim  and  mocking  moudi  and  the  pale  blue 
eyes  with  their  serpent-like  fortitude,  that  tiie  man 
was  KeudeU  himself. 

"What  are  you  doing  in  this  hottseP*  he  quietly 
demanded.  Yet  tiwre  was  menace  in  his  rtry  calm- 
ness, the  menace  of  an  atort  mind  alive  to  axxy  con- 
tingency. 

"I'm  waiting  to  get  out,"  was  Sadie's  pron^  and 
quite  truthful  reply. 

He  cahnly  k)cked  the  door  and  podceted  the  key. 
But  never  once  did  the  studious  pale  eyes  kave  her 
face.  "How  did  you  get  in?" 

"I  came  for  work,"  was  ^  prompt  npiy. 

"What  kind  of  woric?" 

"House-wwk." 


80         THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


"Who  let  you  in?" 

*'A  big  man  in  a  butler's  suit;  a  gink  who  locks 
like  a  gorilla.  Then  another  man  came  hurryin'  in 
b'hind  me  and  asked  for  the  boss." 

"Go  on !"  commanded  the  newcomer. 

"I  was  shoved  into  that  room  there,  and  when  I 
was  waitin*  those  two  men  had  a  fight  at  the  back  o' 
the  house.  And  I  ain't  goin*  to  work  in  no  drum 
with  doin's  like  that  goin'  on  in  it!  And  I  wantta 
get  out!" 

The  man  did  not  move.  "Who  sent  you  here  ?" 
"The  Oberholdt  Employment  Bureau." 
"And  did  my  man  tell  you  jve  had  work  for  you?" 
"He  told  me  to  wait." 

The  big  blond  face  did  not  lose  its  studiousness. 
"He  did  perfectly  right,"  was  the  altogether  imex- 
pected  reply.  "Will  you  step  this  way  ?" 

Sadie  held  back.  "I  don't  want  no  work  in  this 
kind  of  a  dump,"  she  stubbornly  proclaimed. 

"Will  you  step  this  way  ?"  repeated  the  big  blond 
man.  There  was  more  than  command  in  those  five 
words.  There  was  a  threat,  a  cold  and  deliberate 
challenge  that  could  not  be  disregarded.  And  the 
girl  knew  it  was  not  her  moment  for  finalities. 

"Watch  your  step  1"  Sadie  whispered  to  herself. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  81 


She  walked  slowly  and  sullenly  ahead  of  hhn  until 
he  came  to  a  door  at  the  bade  of  a  haUway.  Thii 
door  he  opened,  and  waited  for  her  to  pass  inside. 
She  was  disturbed  by  his  calmness.  She  was  fur- 
ther disturbed  by  the  fact  that  his  stance  never  once 
left  her.  And  there  were  certain  eventiaUties  for 
which  she  wished  to  be  prqtared. 

"Sit  down,"  he  suavely  commanded. 

Keudell  himself,  she  noticed,  tpok  a  chair  bdund 
a  walnut  library-table  on  which  stood  a  desk-tele- 
phone and  a  green-shaded  electric  reading-lamp; 
Difiident  as  was  his  pose,  she  chafed  under  Iht  con- 
sdousmss  of  his  unpanu^  power.  Bdiind  all  Us 
apparent  urbanity,  she  very  well  knew,  was  a  nalke 
which  mig^t  at  any  moment  break  out. 

She  started  visiUy  when  the  call-bdl  of  the  desk- 
phone  suddenly  rang.  She  wondered  how  loi^  it 
would  be  before  the  daws  showed  through  tfaft 
velvet. 

Yet  Keudell,  as  he  answered  that  call,  did  so  with 
affected  unconcern,  languidly  placing  tlw  reodvor 
against  a  pink  and  partly  inclined  jear.  He  even 
listened  with  the  faint  shadow  of  a  anile  on  his  lips. 

Sadie  Wimpel  sat  watching  him,  -wtrnMiag  wlqr 
he  made  her  think  of  a  razor-Uade  ympgtd  in  to* 


82         THE  DCX>R  OF!  DREAD 


ncl.  And  she  kept  warning  herself  to  be  careful,  for 
she  knew,  from  the  faint  tinkle  of  that  phone-bell, 
that  it  A"  as  merely  a  private  circuit  operated  from  a 
dry-cell  or  two.  This  meant  that  from  some  other 
quarter  in  that  place  of  mystery  Keudell  was  being 
told  things  which  could  not  be  to  her  advantage. 

So  she  sat  watching  him,  without  movement,  for 
he  was  now  talking  quickly  and  not  quite  so  calmly 
as  before.  She  had  no  means  of  even  guessing  at 
what  his  words  meant,  since  they  were  in  a  language 
quite  unknown  to  her.  So  she  watched  him  with 
veiled  and  non-committal  eyes  as  he  hung  up  the 
receiver,  sat  leaning  forward  over  the  table  for  a 
moment  or  two  in  deep  thought  and  then  looked 
up  at  her  again.  He  was  even  able  to  indulge  in  a 
half-ironic  smile  as  he  spoke. 

*'Sr  you  were  sent  here  for  work?"  he  purred, 
stroking  his  yellow  mustache. 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  her  studiously  patient  answer. 

"Have  you  any  references?"  he  demanded. 

That  question  sent  a  sudden  tingle  through  her. 
It  was  not  one  of  fear;  it  was  more  the  faint  thrill 
of  hope  that  comes  to  the  shipwrecked  at  the  sight 
of  a  sail  on  the  horizon. 

"Yes,  sir  I" 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  83 


She  spoke  demurely  and  looked  down  at  her  hand- 
bag with  an  expectant  smile.  Then  she  deferen- 
tially stood  up  as  she  opened  this  ba^  groping 
down  into  it  with  fingers  which  did  not  at  once  find 
the  papers  she  seemed  to  be  looking  for. 

"How'd  this  do?"  she  casually  inquired. 

She  stepped  demurely  forward,  until  her  coat-edge 
brushed  against  the  top  of  the  walnut  table  itself. 

Keudell  looked  at  her  half-raised  hand  both  a 
little  scornfully  and  a  little  heavily.  He  did  not 
move  as  his  vision  focused  on  that  otttstretched 
hand,  but  the  pupils  of  his  pale  eyes,  converging  in 
a  stare  that  retained  none  of  their  former  indiffer- 
ence, grew  suddenly  darker  in  tone.  The  rabbit-like 
pinkness  of  his  many-scarred  cheeks  also  deepened, 
here  and  there,  until  the  skin  was  fantasticaUy 
blotched  with  brick-red  splashes  of  color. 

He  fovmd  himself  staring  into  the  barrel-end  of 
a  most  formidable-looking  revolver.  And  the  hand 
that  held  it,  he  was  not  slow  to  notice,  was  remark- 
ably steady.  Yet  he  faced  it  without  any  ai^rent 
flinching  of  his  huge  body.  He  even  seemed  too 
preoccupied  with  his  predicament  to  lift  has  eyes 
from  that  unwavering  barrel-end  to  the  wc»nan's 
angry  face. 


84         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

"Don't  be  a  fooU"  he  cried  out,  in  his  quick  and 
impatient  guttural. 

But  the  fires  of  Sadie's  anger  had  stood  too  long 
banked  to  be  thus  brushed  aside.  Her  blue-lidded 
^es  flashed  .  hh  a  resentment  that  was  not  to  be 
mistaken ;  nostrils  of  her  pert  young  nose  were 
distended  with  an  anger  that  was  ominous. 

"I'll  be  just  fool  enough  to  put  half-a-dozen  holes 
idean  through  that  fat  carcass  o*  yours,  if  yuh  so 
much  as  shift  one  finger  n  that  table,  yuh  pink- 
eyed  ol'  white-slaver  yuh  I"  she  hissed  out  at  him. 
"So  don't  yuh  monkey  wit'  me,  or  it'll  all  be  over 
but  the  shoutin' !" 

"Don't  be  a  fool !"  he  quietly  repeated.  Yet  it  v  as 
taking  an  effort  for  him  to  hold  himself  in.  "T  ad- 
mire your  spirit,  mademoiselle.   It  is  excelld: 

"Hal"  snorted  Sadie.  But  her  gun  stayed  w.  - 
it  was. 

"And  most  assuredly  I  shall  find  work  for  you,** 
continued  the  man  at  the  table. 

Sadie's  second  snort  was  even  more  wrathful. 
"Yuh  gimme  a  pain  in  the  neck !  Whadda  yuh  take 
me  for,  anyway?  Yuh  save  that  bull-con  for  the 
gorilla-guy  who's  butlerin'  for  this  hang-out !  Hand 
it  to  the  com-rustlers  who  ain't  hep  to  a  crook  from 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  85 


the  gyp-game  days!  For  it  don't  go  wit'  me  I  I 
know  who  yuh  are,  and  what  yuh  are,  and  I  could 
git  a  Carnegie  medal  for  ev'ry  gun-hole  I  put  in  that 
fat  head  o'  yours!" 

"One  moment,  mademoiselle !" 

"Not  on  your  life  I  Yuh  and  your  gorilia-gink  *ve 
do!»  consider'ble  monkeyin'  wit'  me  this  last  half- 
hour,  and  there's  been  doin's  in  this  dump  thaf  U 
call  for  consider'Ue  ventilatin'.  But  if  any  guy  tries 
to  stop  me  from  wa.  -in'  out  o*  this  house,  I'll  venti- 
late *em  first,  and  vt  tilate  'em  good!  Now,  take 
that  door-key  out  o'  your  pocket  and  hand  it  to  ne, 
and  hand  it  to  me  slow!" 

they  confronted  each  other  for  a  silent  moment. 

The  man's  hand  moved  across  the  table-top.  Sadie 

promptljr  oonprdiended  and  intercepted  that  movt- 
ment. 

"No,  yuh  don't!  Not  on  your  lifej  Yuk  touch 
that  bell-button  and  it'll  be  your  last  move  on  tiiis 
green  earth!"  The  revolver-barrel  was  advanced 
several  inches  closer  to  Kewk&'s  brad.  "Yvk  haml 
out  that  door-key !" 

Keudell  slowly  and  deliberately  reached  into  kni 
pocket  and  handed  out  the  key,  dror  piog  it  on  the 
Uble-top  in  front  of  her.  She  taudmi  for  tt  wHfi 


86         THE  DOOR  0F.  DREAP 

her  left  hand,  feeling  about  the  smooth  wood  until 
her  fingers  came  in  contact  with  it.  Then  she  drew 
back  a  step  or  two.  She  still  watched  Keudell  and 
still  kept  him  covered.  Yet  as  she  did  so  a  barely 
perceptible  change  crept  over  the  figure  confronting 
her  from  the  chair  on  the  other  side  of  the  table. 

"I  see,  mademoiselle,  you  do  not  trust  me,"  he 
said  with  a  smile  as  she  backed  away. 

"'Bout  as  much  as  a  rattler!"  was  her  prompt 
reply.  Yet  his  smile  widened,  apparently  at  this 
pleasantry.  And  that  smile  disturbed  Sadie.  It 
wavered  before  her  as  tht  signal  of  som^  secret  and 
reassuring  knowledge  to  which  she  was  not  as  yet 
a  party.  But  she  intended  not  to  lose  her  chance. 

"Yuh  don't  make  a  mark  outta  me!"  she  pro- 
claimed as  she  continued  to  back  away,  step  by  step, 
with  her  revolver  in  one  hand  and  the  house-key  in 
the  other.  *'And  it's  worth  rememberin'  the  first 
move  outta  that  chair  means  flirtin'  wit'  a  tomb- 
stone!" 

He  turned  his  head  a  little  as  she  continued  to 
back  away,  shifting  about  so  as  to  be  still  facing  her. 
And  still  again  he  smiled. 

"Then  I  warn  you,  mademoiselle,  to  watch  me 
most  carefully^ '  he  half  mockingly  called  out  to  her« 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD 


87 


Yet  it  was  his  expression  more  than  his  actual  words 
that  disturbed  the  retreating  Sadie. 

"Oh,  I'll  watch  yuh,"  sl.e  said,  as  she  felt  behind 
her  and  opened  the  door  into  the  hallway.  Three 
more  steps,  she  knew,  would  take  her  out  of  his 
sight,  and  twenty  mere  would  take  her  out  of  the 
house.  So  she  withdrew  with'  infinite  precaution, 
never  letting  her  eye  waver  from  her  enemy. 

It  was  at  the  third  step  that  she  wondered  why  he 
suddenly  ducked  beneath  the  table-top.  Her  an- 
swer to  that  question  came  unexpectedly,  in  a  sud- 
den clutch  about  the  body  that  swung  her  feet  clear 
of  the  floor  at  the  same  time  that  it  damped  her 
right  arm  closely  against  her  side. 

It  was  not  until  she  saw  the  pair  of  great  hairy 
wrists  clutching  her  arms  that  she  realized  the  mean- 
ing of  that  sudden  imprisonment.  It  was  then  only 
that  she  understood  the  significance  of  Keudell's 
smile.  Some  time  during  her  retreat  across  the 
room  the  door  that  led  to  the  hall  had  been  silently 
opened  and  closed.  And  without  dreaming  of  what 
awaited  her,  she  had  backed  into  the  arms  of 
Keudell's  gorilla-Iike  accomplice. 

She  knew  this,  but  she  did  not  waste  energy  in 
any  prolonged  resistance,  for  she  also  knew  that  it 


88         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

was  foolish  to  struggle  against  the  pressure  of  Can- 
hfs  vise-like  arms.  Yet  she  watched  for  her  chance, 
watched  with  a  wariness  bom  of  desperation. 

She  watched  as  the  hairy  hand  reached  out  and 
wrenched  the  house-key  from  her  fingers.  She  saw 
it  flung  across  the  room,  and  Keudell's  sudden  movc- 
snent  as  he  hurriedly  slipped  from  his  chair  to  re- 
cover it 

It  was.  indeed,  not  until  her  captor  reached  out 
for  her  revolver  that  she  started  to  struggle.  Into 
that  struggle  she  put  all  the  vehemence  of  her  out- 
»gcd  innocence,  her  ill-treated  body,  her  revolt 
against  indignities  not  to  be  endured. 

But  for  all  her  fury  she  found  herself  helpless. 
She  was  imprisoned  by  thongs  and  sinews  incompar- 
ably stronger  than  her  own.   Her  right  hand  was 
ttiU  free  and  the  revolver  was  still  clutched  in  her 
fingers.  But  the  hairy  hand  clenched  over  her  fore- 
arm prevented  any  use  of  the  weapon.  The  most  she 
could  do.  during  that  one-sided  struggle,  was  to  keep 
it  out  of  Canby's  grasp.   Her  enemy  realized  the 
necessity  of  possessing  that  firearm  and  seemed  de- 
termined to  have  it,  at  the  cost  of  any  effort.  He 
twisted  her  writlung  body  cruelly  about,  so  that  her 
back  was  held  dose  against  his  own  panting  body. 


THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD)  » 


Then  he  worked  his  left  arm  up  so  that  it  was  held 
crook-like  close  in  under  her  chin  and  in  a  position 
for  promptly  garroting  her,  once  the  pressure  of 
that  constricting  arm  was  brought  to  bear  on  her 
neck.   And  this  would  undoubtedly  h      '  ^en  ef- 
fected, had  not  Sadie  Wimpel  sudden       sted  her 
head  about  and  at  the  same  time  bent  her  knees,  so 
that  she  dropped  and  hung  suspended  from  the  arm 
that  imprisoned  her.  This  brought  her  mouth  close 
to  the  bare  flesh  of  the  hairy  wrist.  Without  a  mo- 
ment's hesitation  she  caught  that  wrist  in  her  singu- 
larly strong  young  teeth.  She  snapped  at  it  like  an 
animal,  sinking  her  teeth  in  the  yielding  flesh  with 
all  the  strength  of  ner  jaw-muscles.  She  bit  deeper, 
until  the  taste  of  bloor   11  but  sickened  her  and  the 
man  himself,  with  an  s  jry  gasp,  released  his  right 
hand  and  struck  blindly  at  her  face.  It  was  an  in- 
stincii'  <.  md  un.  a  :oning  reacti"-*  against  pain  too 
acute  to  be  endured.  And  while  it  was  not  what  the 
struggling  girl  had  looked  for,  she  was  still  alert- 
minded  enough,  for  all  her  lack  of  breath,  to  realize 
her  chance  when  it  was  presented  to  her.  Camped 
as  she  still  was  close  against  that  gross  body  behind 
her,  she  found  her  right  arm  suddenly  released. 
She  had  neither  the  time  nor  the  strangtH  pa  <Wh 


90         THE  DCX)R  OF  DREAD 

crate  on  her  aim.  But  the  lurching  struggles  of  the 
man  holding  her  had  brought  his  right  leg  forward 
so  that  it  fell  within  her  line  of  vision  at  the  same 
moment  that  her  exhausted  right  hand  went  down. 
Instinctively  she  pulled  the  trigger,  even  while  the 
garroting  arm  about  her  throat  constricted  untU 
her  very  breath  of  life  was  shut  off. 

She  had  neither  the  time  nor  the  strength  for  a 
second  shot,  for  that  strangle-hold  was  too  xmich 
for  her,  stopping  as  it  did  her  very  power  of  breath- 
ing, clamping  close  about  und'^r  her  chin  until  she 
could  fee'  the  very  cartilage  of  her  neck  crackle. 

It  was  at  the  moment  that  this  vise-like  dutch 
seemed  unendurable  that  she  realized  her  shot  had 
not  gone  wide.  For  the  next  moment  the  pressure 
relaxed,  the  arm  about  her  throat  fell  slowly  away 
and  the  hairy  figure  so  close  behind  her  f eU  as  stowly 

|to  the  ground. 

She  staggered  back  against  the  wall,  gaping  at  the 
fallen  man  and  gasping  for  breath.  She  stared 
down  at  his  ludicrously  exposed  white  sock  and  the 
leather  shoe-top  already  reddened  with  blood.  She 
saw  that  she  had  shot  him  somewhere  below  the 
knee.  Yet  that  fact  did  not  altogether  disturb  her. 
She  was  not  thinking  of  others,  but  of  herself^ 


JHE  DOOR  of:  DREADI 


91 


What  apprehension  she  knew  arose  from  the  ques- 
tion as  to  how  long  the  first  nervous  shock  of  such 
a  wound  would  eliminate  this  hairy  monster  as  a 
factor  in  her  fight  for  freedom,  for  she  still  remem- 
bered that  she  had  Keudell  to  reckon  with,  and  that 
before  all  other  things  she  wanted  freedom,  and 
nothing  but  freedom. 

The  thought  of  that  second  enemy  steeled  her 
into  sudden  activity.  She  crouched  back,  sweeping 
the  room  with  one  quick  and  combative  stare.  Had 
she  found  Keudell  there,  facing  her,  she  could  have 
felt  more  at  her  ease.  But  the  discovery  that  the 
room  was  already  empty  filled  her  with  a  sudden 
imreasoning  terror,  since  it  confronted  her  with  a 
peril  that  was  both  unknown  and  unseen.  Keudell, 
she  felt  convinced,  would  never  permit  her  to  escape. 
Things  had  gone  too  far.  And  a  Keudell  out  of 
sight  implied  a  Keudell  maneuvering  in  some  secret 
manner  against  her,  making  ready  to  confound  her 
with  some  blow  that  would  be  as  unexpected  as  it 
would  be  decisive. 

Sadie's  next  move  was  to  swing  about  and  face 
the  open  door.  But  even  in  that  corroding  storm  of 
ianger  at  the  affronts  which  had  been  heaped  upon 
her,  much  of  her  native  wariness  remained  with  her^ 


92         THE  DCWDR  OF.  DREAD 

So  as  she  crept  toward  the  hall-door  she  did  so  with 
a  series  of  movements  that  were  feline  in  their 
noiselessness.  Then  she  stood  there,  with  one  hand 
against  the  door-frame,  listening.  A  moment  later, 
as  she  advanced  her  head  about  the  corner  of  that 
door-frame,  the  movement  was  as  cautious  as  the 
blink  of  a  gopher  from  its  sand-knoll. 

"For  the  love  o'  Mike  1"  she  softly  murmured. 
For  she  at  last  realized,  as  she  stared  toward  the 
front  of  the  house,  why  KeudeU  was  not  for  the 
moment  interested  in  her. 

That  blond  giant,  she  could  see,  was  otherwise 
engaged.  He  was  engai,ed  in  holding  down  on  the 
carpeted  floor  the  still  struggling  figure  of  the  man 
who  called  himself  Dorgan.  Where  the  latter  had 
reappeared  from,  Sadie  could  not  even  guess.  But 
she  could  see,  as  she  ventured  a  second  view,  that 
he  was  plainly  much  the  worse  for  wear.  He  was, 
however,  stiU  struggling  fiercely  if  hopelessly  against 
his  stronger  opponent,  who  apparently  had  wit- 
nessed his  flight  toward  the  house-door  and  had 
taken  prompt  measures  to  intercept  it. 

Yet  in  neither  of  these  combatants  did  the  watch- 
ing woman  evince  any  prolonged  interest.  She  felt 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


93 


no  regret  at  the  discovery  that  Keudell's  nose  was 
bleeding  profusely,  giving  an  air  of  sodden  dejec- 
tion to  his  haughtily  up-turned  Teutonic  mustache. 
She  felt  no  sympathy  for  the  bruised  and  battered 
Dorgan,  with  his  discolored  eyes  and  his  sadly  torn 
clothing.  His  ultimate  fate  did  not  even  concern 
her.  She  was  sick  of  the  whole  house.  Her  soul 
was  by  this  time  preoccupied  with  its  one  passion, 
its  one  undeviatirg  and  all-consuming  passion  to 
escape,  to  get  away  from  that  abode  of  uncouth 
encounters  and  mysterious  enemies.  Something 
within  her  whimpered  like  a  kenneled  hound  for 
release  from  those  gloomy  quarters.  Her  lungs 
ached  for  the  breath  of  the  open  again.  And  she 
intended  to  go,  she  solemnly  told  herself,  while  the 
going  was  good. 

To  go  by  the  natural  avenue  of  the  street-door, 
she  knew,  was  now  out  of  the  question.  That  would 
take  her  too  close  to  Keudell,  who  at  any  moment 
could  leave  Dorgan  to  his  own  devices.  So  she 
stood  back  in  the  doorway,  studying  the  stairs  that 
led  upward.  She  was  familiar  enough  with  the 
structure  of  city  houses  to  feel  assured  that  some- 
SSbere  from  tiiose  upper  regions  Hould  ])^  fta  ogeo- 


94         THE  PCX)R  OF  DREAD 

ing  to  the  roof.  And  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
in  the  past,  Sadie  had  had  occasion  to  soar  upward 
and  skim  along  the  sky-line  route. 

So  she  stooped  down  and  made  sure  the  manila 
envelope  was  still  in  her  stoJicing.  Then,  with  a 
deep  breath,  she  took  the  hall  at  a  run. 

She  was  across  the  hall  and  had  reached  the  stair- 
way before  Keudell  even  caught  sight  of  her.  Be- 
fore he  had  scrambled  to  his  feet  and  started  in 
pursuit  she  was  half-way  up  the  stairway  itself. 
She  was  harried  by  the  fear  that  he  might  fire  at 
her,  yet  she  did  not  let  this  thought  deter  her  flying 
steps.    She  decided  not  to  lose  ground  by  trying 
to  shoot  back  until  she  was  compelled  to.  Then, 
she  grimly  concluded,  she  would  go  the  limit.  For 
she  felt  reasonably  certain  there  were  no  enemies 
above  her,  or  she  should  have  long  since  heard  from 
that  quarter.    Her  one  fear  was  that  the  heavy- 
bodied  Keudell  might  overtake  her— and  that  would 
mean  the  undoing  of  Kestner's  planning,  and  the 
defeat  of  Wilsnach's  hopes. 

She  decided,  as  she  reached  the  landing  and 
swung  about  the  banister,  to  take  a  pot-shot  or 
two  for  luck.  So  she  fired,  as  she  ran,  and  saw 
her  first  bullet  scatter  the  wall-plaster  not  two  feet 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  95 


from  Keudell's  botbiiig  head.  The  aecond  shot 
splintered  one  of  the  hardwood  banister  qnndles. 
And  she  did  not  stop  for  another,  for  by  this  time 
she  realized  her  pursuer  was  at  least  not  gaining 
on  her. 

She  was  ahnost  at  the  top  of  the  second  flight 
before  that  pursuer  reached  its  *  attorn  step.  Fac- 
ing her  on  the  landing  above,  she  caught  sig^  of 
a  white  enamel  high-boy  on  which  stood  a  pewter 
tray  whereon  were  arrayed  a  row  of  <!rinking 
glasses,  a  soda-siphon  and  a  collection  of  empty 
beer  bottles.  With  one  quidc  jetk,  as  she  readied 
the  landing,  she  swung  thi«i  laden  highboy  out  from 
the  wall  A  seccmd  push  sent  it  crashing  and  careen- 
ing down  the  stairway,  gathering  speed  as  it  went 

But  she  did  not  stop  to  determine  Ae  result  of 
that  catapultmg  descent  She  rounded  the  banister 
and  made  for  the  next  floor,  swung  about  to  the 
last  stairway  ana  found  herself  at  the  top  of  the 
house,  confronted  by  a  door  which  proved  to  be 
locked.  This  door,  she  felt,  wov'd  surt  leac'  to- 
ward the  roof.  So  after  a  second  ineffectual  tr^ 
at  its  knob  ^he  stood  back,  fired  one  quick  shot  into 
its  lock  and  swung  it  open  to  the  sound  of  falling 
metal. 


96         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


In  front  of  her  stood  a  small  iron  ladder.  Up 
this  she  swamied,  until  she  came  to  a  transom,  held 
shut  by  a  chain  over  a  heavy  iron  staple.  It  took 
her  but  a  moment  or  two  to  untie  this  chain,  push 
up  the  transom  and  climb  into  the  open  air. 

With  that  advent  to  the  open  her  spirits  suddenly 
came  back  to  her,  and  she  giggled  audibly,  with  a 
half-hysterical  and  sobbing  choke  at  the  end  of  her 
laughter.  But  she  did  not  even  stop  to  replace  the 
transom.  She  scurried  across  the  flat  tin  roof  un- 
til she  came  to  a  tile-covered  wall-top.  Over  this 
she  scrambled,  dropping  to  a  roof  of  tar-and-gravel 
a  couple  of  feet  lower  than  the  first  one.  Then 
came  the  climb  to  another  tinned  roof  with  a  locked 
transom^  another  tile<ovcred  party-wall  which 
taxed  her  strength  to  surmount,  another  series  of 
roofs  in  ever  ascending  planes,  and  then  a  flat  house- 
top studded  with  clothes-line  stanchions,  between 
which  stood  a  square  frame  died  like  the  deck- 
house of  a  schooner. 

At  the  back  of  this  roof-shed  Sadie  found  a  door 
that  opened  on  a  steep  and  narrow  flight  of  steps. 
She  paused  for  just  one  moment,  first  to  look  back, 
then  to  stow  away  her  revolver,  and  then  to 
straighten  her  hat. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD. 


97 


Then  she  entered  the  hatchway  between  the  Une- 
stanchioos  and  stepped  quietly  but  quickly  dowr  the 
narrow  stairs.  She  listened,  when  she  came  to  the 
first  ioor  below,  but  could  hear  nothing  beyond  the 
distant  sotmd  of  a  piano.  So  she  crept  on,  peer- 
ing over  the  banister  from  time  to  time,  and  breath- 
ing easier  at  every  foot  of  territory  safely  covered. 

She  had  readiied  the  second  floor  and  was  ahnost 
at  the  last  stair-head  when  m  intem^on  came. 
It  came  suddenly,  with  the  unes^ected  opening  of 
a  door  dose  beside  her.  Throus^  this  door  stepped 
a  tall  and  angular  man  in  a  voluminous  bathrobe. 
In  his  hand  h^  carried  a  towel  and  ^nge,  and  the 
high-ardied  dome  of  his  fre^y  scrubbed  bald  head 
shone  like  polished  metal  in  the  strong  side-light 

Sadie,  quidc  as  thought,  stopped  and  veered  about 
so  that  she  faced  the  door  nearest  her  on  the  op- 
posite si'*^  of  the  hall.  She  seemed  to  be  staring  at 
this  dootf  with  trod^  aiixiety. 

"Pawdon  me,"  she  drawled  over  her  shoulder  to 
the  advancing  figure,  "but  is  this  Miss  Deifflinger's 
room?" 

"Derfflinger?"  repeated  the  man  m  the  bathrobe, 
eying  her  su^iciously.  "There's  no  Miss  Derfflinget: 
in  this  house.^ 


98  THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

"There  must  W  wxKVfSy  argued  Sadie  Wimpel, 
with  one  ear  cocked  for  wasy  teUtale  totiiid  from 
the  upper  regions  through  which  she  had  so  recently 
descended. 

"Who  told  you  there  was?"  demanded  the  man. 
Sadie,  instead  of  answering  that  question,  a  ked 
anotlwr. 

"What  number  is  this?*'  she  promptly  inquired. 

"Two  hundred  and  thirty-one  f* 

Sadie  had  backed  away  until  her  hand  was  on 
the  banister-rail  leading  to  the  floor  below.  Noth- 
mg,  she  decided,  was  now  going  to  come  between 
her  and  the  street. 

"Then  wasn't  it  funny  of  Ae  maid  not  to  tell 
me?"  she  murmured  in  mild  perplexity.  But  she 
turned  about  and  began  her  descent 

"What  maid?"  barked  out  the  man  in  the  bath- 
robe, following  her  to  the  head  of  the  stairs. 

"Why,  your  maid,  of  course,"  answered  the  tran- 
quil-^ed  young  woman  yrho  was  now  half-way 
down  the  stairs. 

"We  have  no  maid!"  decisively  and  belligerently 
called  out  the  man  at  the  stair-head. 

Sadie  had  reached  the  ground  floor  and  was  ad- 


THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAQ  99 


\ 


vandng  toward  the  street  entrance  by  this  time. 
She  knew  she  was  safe. 

"No,  I  don't  s'pose  a  cheap  skate  like  yuh  ever 
would  have  one!"  called  back  the  defiant  and  quite 
reckless  trespasser,  conscious  of  the  fact  that  she 
was  only  ten  short  steps  from  the  open  street  and 
that  nothing  could  now  stand  between  her  and  her 
freedom. 

As  she  swept  through  the  door  she  slammed  it 
shut  with  a  force  vindictive  enough  to  loosen  the 
paint-checks  on  its  faded  panels.  Then  she  hurried 
down  the  steps,  turned  to  the  right,  and  once  she 
had  rounded  the  comer  was  glad  to  hear  the  com- 
panionable pulse  of  the  city's  traffic  all  about  her 
and  the  press  of  the  prosaic  and  every-day  Avenue 
crowd  close  at  her  elbows.  She  pushed  her  way 
on  through  that  crowd  until  she  spotted  an  empty 
taxicab  and  promptly  signaled  its  driver. 

A  minute  later  she  was  sitting  back  in  an  up- 
holstered seat,  humming  homeward,  sighing  with 
relief  as  she  poised  her  tired  feet  well  up  on  the 
leather-covered  railing  in  front  of  her.  And  during 
that  journey  she  divided  her  time  between  powder- 
ing her  nose  and  massaging  with  a  gently  investi- 


100        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


gatory  forefinger  certain  more  or  lest  bruised  and 
tender  portions  of  her  body. 

"I  guess  I'm  some  little  singed-cat/'  she  medi^ 
tated,  "shootin*  that  boob  through  the  shin-bone! 
But  when  yuh  mosey  round  wit'  the  big-mitters 
yuh  gotta  watch  the  deck  or  drop  your  pile  I  And 
he  sure  did  squeeze  in  me  rib-<age  for  tatV 


CHAPTER  SIX 


IT  was  ten  minutes  later  that  Sadie  Wimpd 
seated  herself  in  her  rcptiliously  embroidered 
palm-reading  parlor.  Leaning  back  in  her  chair  of 
state,  she  languidly  Upped  a  cork-tipped  cigarette 
on  her  plaster-of-Paris  property-skull.  As  she  did 
so  Wilsnach,  seated  on  the  other  side  of  the  taUe, 
turned  over  and  over  the  h-avy  manila  envelope 
which  she  had  quietly  yet  triumphantly  handed  to 
him.  Then  he  tore  it  open. 

He  leaned  forAvard  over  the  papers  with  a  quite 
audible  gasp  of  bewilderment,  which  Sadie  made  it 
a  point  to  ignore,  being  at  the  moment  ttudiottsly 
engaged  in  blowing  a  smoke-ring  in  between  the 
slightly  parted  curtains  of  her  materializing  cabinet 
Then  Wilsnach,  rounding  the  taWe,  came  and 
stared  down  at  the  pert  young  face  so  thiddy  cov- 
cred  with  rice-powder. 

"Sadie,"  he  announced,  a  litUe  tremulously. 

"you've  got  'em!" 

"Huh?"  inquired  the  languid^yed  Sadie,  dtscoi»* 

101 


102        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


solately  looking  into  a  chocalate  box  which  she  only 
too  well  knew  to  be  empty. 

"Sadie,  you're  simply  wonderful  f*  declared  Wil»- 
nach,  as  he  stooped  down  and  caught  her  by  the* 
shoulders. 

"Do  anything,  Willsie,  but  tamp  the  bull-con  into 
a  trustin'  heart!"  mocked  the  girl.  But  a  solemn 
look  came  into  her  eyes  as  she  stood  up  beside  her 
colleague  and  his  hand  slipped  happily  about  her 
shoulder. 

"You  are  a  wonder,  Sadie,"  repeated  Wilsnach, 
with  a  preoccupied  and  brotherly  pat,  as  he  stared 
down  at  the  manila  envelope.  "Why,  you've  saved 
the  War  Ofiice  stuff  here  that's  worth  millions  to 
themr 

The  vague  look  of  hunger  that  had  crept  into  Sa- 
die*s  eyes  slowly  crept  out  of  them  again. 

"Have  I?"  she  listlessly  asked.  For  he  had  al- 
ready turned  away  and  was  once  more  bent  over 
the  papers  on  the  table. 

'•But  how  did  you  do  it?" 

Sadie,  watching  him  appraisingly  out  of  the  cor- 
ner of  her  eye,  blew  another  smoke- ring.  Then, 
with  a  shrug,  she  sat  back  in  her  chair. 

"The  same  as  I've  done  any  other  Service  work," 


THE  DOOK  OP  DREAD  103 

she  announced,  wondering  if  it  was  merely  an  tmpfy 
stomach  that  left  all  the  world  so  suddenly  cnmty 
"But  how?"  ^r^/- 

Sadie  briefly  but  picturesquely  retailed  to  him 
the  happenings  of  the  afternoon.  Wilsnach,  when 
she  had  finished,  sat  for  a  luxurious  minute  or  two 
staring  at  her  in  silent  approval.  Then  his  gaze  went 
still  again  to  the  raanila  envelope  whkh  he  now 
held  in  his  hand. 

He  sat  there,  in  troubled  thought,  as  Sadie  herself 
went  to  the  window,  opened  the  slats  of  the  heavy 
colonial  shutter  and  stared  out  into  the  gathering 
darkness  of  the  side-street. 
"And  it's  rainin'  pitch-forks  I"  she  declared. 
Wilsnach  looked  up  at  her  sharply  as  she  crossed 
to  the  hall-door  and  opened  it. 

"Zuleika,"  she  called  out.  "yuh  gotta  can  that  tnr. 
ban  outfit  and  get  into  a  rain-coat !  Then  beat  it  over 

to  Broadway  and  loor  a  taxi  back  to  this  cave  o' 

hunger !" 

Wilsnach  was  on  his  feet  by  this  time. 
"What  do  you  want  with  a  taxi?"  he  demanded. 
Sadie  eyed  him  with  mild  disfavor. 
"I'm  goir;  to  feed!"  was  her  ultimatum.  "And 
seein'  I  ain't  et  for  over  seven  hours,  I'm  goin'  to 


104         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


feed  in  a  joint  where  they  don't  have  to  send  out 
for  the  fizzl" 

"You  can't  do  it,  Sadie,"  Wilsnach  calmly  de- 
clared. He  stowed  the  carefully  folded  charts  down 
in  his  inner  pocket  and  stood  studying  the  empty 
manila  enevelope. 

"Why  can't  I?  Ain't  I  done  enough  roof-run- 
nin'  to  git  an  honest  appetite  ?" 

"You've  done  enough  to  get  a  life-medal  from 
Daniels  himself,"  he  admitted.  "But  don't  you  sec 
what's  still  ahead  of  us?** 

"I'd  like  to  see  about  a  yard  of  st^  ahead  o* 
me!" 

"We've  only  been  through  the  first  act  of  this 
play,  and  the  second  might  begin  any  time  now. 
And  we're  not  ready  for  it.  Don't  you  suppose 
that  man  Dorgan  is  going  to  come  back  here  as  soon 
as  he  imagines  it's  safe?  How  are  you  going  to 
face  him  without  his  papers?" 

But  Sadie  was  not  interested  in  papers. 

"For  the  love  o'  Mike,  ain't  yuh  goin'  to  gimme 
a  chance  to  eat  between  now  and  Christmas?" 

"You  can  eat  later,  Sadie,  but  just  now  we  are 
acting  for  the  Service,  and  to  the  Service  every- 
thing must  bow." 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  lOS 


"Yuh  got  them  papers,  and  Keudell  didn't— ain't 
that  enough  ?" 

"These  are  not  the  only  papers  Keudell  was  aftet 
Either  that  man  or  one  of  his  agents  planted  at 
Watervliet  got  our  new  coast-gun  plans,  our  new 
seventeen-inch  gim  with  the  new  Winton  automatic 
breech-lock."  Wilsnach  looked  down  at  his  watch. 
"And  in  ten  minutes  it's  up  to  me  to  be  inside  Keu- 
dell's  ho'ise  and  going  through  it  from  cellar  to 
attic." 

"And  just  where'll  Keudell  be?"  Sadie  inquired. 

"If  Dorgan  got  away  I  rather  imagine  he'll  be 
shadowing  Dorgan." 

Sadie  suddenly  backed  away. 

"And  s'posin'  that  pink-eyed  wop  comes  down 
here  to  raise  a  holler?"  demanded  the  girl. 

"Nothing  could  be  more  satisfactory,"  was  the 
other's  answer. 

"And  what  am  I  goin'  to  do  if  that  wire-haired 
Irish  terrier  beats  it  back  here  and  finds  out  I've 
double-crossed  him?  What'm  I  goin'  to  tell  him 
about  them  papers?" 

"Those  papers,"  corrected  Wilsnach. 

"Those  papers,"  dutifully  repeated  the  girl. 

"You're  going  to  give  them  back  to  him." 


106         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


**Whilc  yuh  stiU  have  *cm?"  mocked  Sadie. 
*'Hypnotizin'  him  wit*  a  couple  o'  passes,  I  s'pose, 
so  he'll  sit  down  and  eat  outta  me  hand?" 

Their  eyes  met. 

"Sadie,  I  believe  you  could  hypnotize  that  man 
Dorgan !" 

"I'd  have  a  fine  chanct,  wouldn't  I,  wit'  his  envel- 
ope tore  open  and  his  blue-prints  missin'  ?" 

"We'll  get  another  envelope  and  we'll  make  it 
look  like  one  full  of  Uue-prints,"  explained  Wils- 
nach. 

"And  where'U  yuh  get  it?" 

"Where  most  envelopes  come  from — a  staticmery 
store.  And  I'll  see  if  K^tner  himself  can't  drop  in 
with  it,  in  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  on  his  way  to  help 
me  out  up  at  the  Keudell  house.  But  before  I  for- 
get it,  I  want  my  revolver." 

She  crossed  the  room  to  the  black-draped  taUe, 
opened  her  hand-bag  and  gave  Wilsnadi  the  weapon. 

"And  what  fell  am  I  goin'  to  do  if  that  gink  starts 
rougb-kousin*  round  here?" 

"He  may  never  even  come  here.  But  I  hope  he 
doesl" 

"Then  what's  the  matter  wit'  yuh  stayin'  rig^l 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAp  107 

here  and  gatherin'  in  botli  Dorgan  and  Kcudell 
yourself?" 

"I  don't  want  Dorgan.  He's  the  sick  oyster  that's 
had  the  pearl  taken  out  of  him.  And  I  don't  want 
Keudell  until  I  can  get  him  right.  And  I  can't 
waste  another  minute  arguing  about  it.  If  Dorgan 
comes  before  I  can  get  back  you'll  have  to  handle 
him  alone !" 

Sadie  watched  him  as  he  stepped  hurriedly  to- 
ward the  door. 

"Hold  on  a  minute!"  she  commanded,  for  she 
hated  the  thought  of  his  leaving  her. 

"I  can't!"  was  Wilsnach's  retort  as  he  flung  open 
the  door  and  made  for  the  street. 

Sadie  stood  looking  after  him  for  a  meditative 
moment  or  two.  S!  shut  her  lips  tight,  to  put  a 
stop  to  their  trembling.  Then  she  studiously  and 
dejectedly  scratched  the  point  of  her  tip-tilted  nose. 
Then  she  stared  slowly  aoout  her  mysteriously 
lighted  reception-room,  from  the  reptiliously- 
adorned  screen  to  the  black-draped  materializing 
cabinet.  Then  she  crossed  to  the  table  and  stood 
between  her  framed  signs  of  the  Zodiac  and  the 
leering  white  skull  on  its  velvet  pad.   She  stood 


108        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


peering  down  at  the  languid-bodied  goldfish  circling 
idly  about  their  iridescent  glass  bowl,  moodily  pon- 
dering the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  goldfish 
were  good  to  eat. 

Then  sh*  looked  up  suddenly  at  the  sound  of  an- 
gry voices,  the  reproving  throaty  tones  of  the  ne- 
gress  Zuleika  and  the  heavier  challenging  notes  of 
the  intruder  who  was  not  to  be  kept  back. 

Then  she  rounded  the  table  and  stood  between 
it  and  the  cabinet  curtains,  watching  the  door. 

"It's  that  wire-haired  terrier  come  back  1"  she  lu- 
gubriously announced,  as  she  took  a  deep  breath  and 
waited  for  the  door  to  open. 

A  moment  after  the  door  had  opened  Sadie  Wim- 
pel  saw  that  it  was  indeed  Dorgan.  But  it  was 
a  figure  much  different  to  the  Dorgan  who  had 
stepped  into  her  reception-room  a  few  hours  earlier 
in  the  day.  About  him,  however,  still  clung  a  for- 
lorn air  of  bravado,  seeming  to  announce  him  as  a 
spirit  not  easily  cowed. 

Sadie,  as  she  stood  staring  at  him,  decided  that 
much  of  that  woebegone  buoyancy  was  based  on 
the  courage  which  is  paid  for  over  a  mahogany  bar. 
For  Dorgan's  figure  was  not  an  inspiriting  one. 
Over  one  eye  and  surrounding  his  entire  head  yfUi 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD  109 

a  huge  white  bandage,  startlingly  suggettWe  of 
Zuleika's  pontifical  turban.  A  diminutive  motmtaui- 
ridge  of  court-plaster  adhered  to  his  lower  lip,  and 
along  the  point  of  his  right  jaw-bone  ran  still  an- 
other spur  of  plaster,  to  say  nothing  of  divers  abra- 
sions about  the  collarless  and  bull-like  neck.  In  sev- 
eral places,  too,  his  clothing  was  plainly  torn. 

"So  they  did  things  to  yuh,  too!"  she  announced, 
as  he  stood  returning  her  stare  of  inspecdoo. 

Sadie's  appreciation  of  character  was  quidc  and 
instinctive.  She  knew  that  Dorgan  was  no  coward, 
yet  she  also  knew  that  in  some  undefined  way  die 
was  cleverer  than  this  man  with  the  bdligennt 
square  jaw  and  the  wiry  black  hair.   She  tecafied 
what  Wilsnach  had  already  told  her  abottt  Dorgaa 
being  at  one  time  a  prize-fighter.   She  hendl,  ia 
the  days  which  she  kept  behind  the  lodeed  door  of 
her  memory,  had  had  occasion  to  stwfy  a  pfiae-rinf 
professional  at  close  range,  and  her  coMen^t  foe 
that  gentry  was  open  and  unqualified.   It  left  htr 
less  afraid  of  Dorgan.  Life's  ftnl  victories,  Sadse 
had  long  since  learned,  were  not  won  6y  fisti. 

So  as  she  stared  with  quiet  appraisal  at  the  titiek* 
muscled  arms,  the  significant  "mnsfafoom^  ea  Weir- 
ing below  the  tilted  head4Mada9e^  tad  ^  Am! 


no        JHE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


nose  shadowing  the  elongated  potato-lip  whidb  so 
unequivocally  announced  Dorgan's  ancestry,  she  de- 
cided that  he  was  not  altogether  an  agreeable  type 
to  "double-cross."  The  mere  fact  that  he  had  bat- 
tled his  way  back  to  her  house  was  sign  enough  of 
his  buU-headedness. 

But  her  feeling,  as  she  confronted  him,  was  not 
one  of  actual  fear.  He  was,  after  aU,  merely  a 
*'rough-neck.*'  He  was  nothing  more  than  a  lathe- 
worker  who  had  gone  wrong,  a  medianic  who  had 
stolen  factory  secrets  and  was  bent  on  financing  his 
stolen  papers.  And  if  Kestner  or  Wilsnach  only  got 
back  in  time  there  was  still  a  fighting  chance  of  slip- 
ping out  of  the  man's  clutches. 

"So  they  did  things  to  yuh,  too !"  repeated  Sadie. 

Dorgan,  ignoring  her  exclamation,  sank  mto  a 
chair.  He  turned  about,  with  a  strangely  tnrd^ike 
movement,  and  sat  studying  her  o*^  of  his  one  good 
eye,  A  look  of  grim  ap«robati  :K  crept  over  his 
battered  face. 

"You're  about  the  nerviest  skirt  I  ever  hitched 
with !"  he  finally  ejaculated. 

Sadie,  havi  g  absorbed  the  full  significance  of 
those  words,  breathed  easier. 

"Oh,  yvh  weren't  without  your  nerve,  takin'  9 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


HI 


decent  girl  into  a  dump  like  that!"  she  announced, 
with  a  parade  of  anger. 

He  sat  solemnly  cogitating  this  accusation. 

"D'you  suppose  I  thought  Kendall  was  going  to 
pull  any  of  that  strong-arm  stuff?" 

"Who's  Kendall?"  she  demanded.  The  more  they 
talked,  she  began  to  realize,  the  wider  would  be  her 
margin  of  safety.  And  Kestner,  she  remembered, 
ought  to  be  there  at  any  moment. 

"Kendall's  the  man  we  tried  to  do  business  with— 
the  big  blond  stiff  with  the  saber-marks  on  the 
cheek!" 

So  Kendall,  Sadie  inwardly  remarked,  was  an- 
other name  for  Keudell.  And  Keudell  rather  inter- 
ested her,  even  while  he  intimidated  her.  He  was 
of  a  type  altogether  different  to  Dorgan.  Keudell 
would  be  tricky,  and  apt  to  keep  you  guessing,  with 
that  cool  eye  which  never  put  you  wise  to  when  he 
was  bluffing  and  when  he  was  beaten.  And  she  was 
glad  it  was  Dorgan,  and  not  Keudell,  that  she  had  to 
combat 

"He  certainly  put  a  few  marks  on  me!"  declared 
the  irate-eyed  young  woman. 
Dorgan  sniffed. 

"You  can't  hold  a  candle  to  what  /  got,"  he  an- 


112        JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

nonnoed.  "And  I  gum  Kendall  liad  to  take  ft  jolk 
or  two  himself."  Dorgan  wipul  hit  mouth  with  the 
bade  of  his  hand.  And  hell  bun^  into  his  biggest 
jolt  when  he  finds  out  it  was  you  who  got  ftway  with 
those  papers  r 

"How'll  he  find  out?"  hiquired  Sadie,  realising 
that  the  talk  was  veering  around  to  raUier  danger- 
ous ground. 

"I'll  see  that  he  knows»"  was  Dorgan's  quick 
tort   "And  I'll  see  that  he  doesn't  get  another 
chance  at  them !" 

Sadie  saw  his  face  diange;  and  the  thin  vwce  of 
some  deep-kenneled  instinct  tdd  her  of  '^t  <ittet- 
ticm  he  was  about  to  ask,  evoi  before  words 
were  spoken.  "You* ve  got  tiiosc  papers  aU  ri^r 
he  suddenly  demanded. 

"Surer'  was  Sadie's  casual  refrfy. 

"And  you've  got  *em  on  you?"  he  continued. 

"Sure  I  have,"  she  replied.  Yet  the  next  moment 
she  could  have  bitten  her  tongue-point  off  for  that 
insane  admission.  She  realized  then  that  she  shouhl 
have  proclaimed  they  were  not  immediately  avail- 
able; that  they  had  been  stored  away  for  safe-ke^ 
ing;  that  it  would  take  a  little  time  to  get  th«n— 
anything  to  hold  him  off  until  Kestner  oouM  be  sent 


JHE  DOOi^  of:  dread  IIJ' 

to  her  hOp.  She  knew*  intuithreljr,  what  Dorgan's 
next  demnul  would  be,  and  she  was  resolved  that 
its  utterance  should  be  withheld  as  long  as  possible. 
So  it  WIS  with  a  show  of  sudden  hot  resentment  that 
she  jwaaped  up  from  her  chair  and  fusilladed  him 
with  her  quidc  voOeys  of  indignation. 

"But  I  wantta  know  the  reason  for  all  this  rough- 
house,"  she  stormed  with  a  violence  that  made  him 
wmce.  "I  wantta  know  the  meanin' of  all  this  gum- 
shoem*  and  door-teckin*  and  gun-play.  And  just 
why*d  that  pork-eyed  gink  wit»  the  sword-marks 
gimme  the  diase  up  over  the  cat-teasers  ?  And  jus' 
Whfd  yuh  root  me  out  o*  this  decent  palm-readin' 
en^um  and  tiy  to  make  me  a  runner-in  for  a 
bundi  o*  papen  I  don't  know  nothin'  about  and  I 
don't  blieve  are  worth  a  tradin'  stamp?" 

'^Haven't  you  anjr  idea  what  those  papers  are?" 
demanded  Dorgaa 

"The  only  thing  I've  gotte  an  idea  about  is  that 
niy  floatin'  ribs  are  sure  achin'  for  a  six-course  din- 
ner! I  am't  no  freight-jumper,  and  bein'  throwed 
around  by  a  coi^  o'  wild-eyed  boobs  ain't  my  idea 
of  in^  ^rtsl  And  what  fell  am  I  goin'  to  git 
<^  o'  bemg  niati4ianled  by  a  he-butler  that  looks 
like  a  missin'  liidc  and  tiien  finished  oflF  by  that  pink- 


114         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


giUed  wop  wit*  the  iiieat<arver  f  resco>woric  all  over 
hit  ttmpf* 

The  unbandaged  tide  of  Dorgan's  face  wrinkled 
up  with  a  sembtance  of  mirth.  Then  it  grew  tol- 
emn  again. 

"You're  all  right  r'  he  gravely  and  appreciatively 
announced.  "And  if  you  hadn't  spUt  that  butler's 
shin-bone  we'd  have  had  Kendall  down  here  on  top 
of  us  long  before  thisi  Yes,  rir;  you're  all  rij^itf* 

"No,  I  ain't  »*!  rig^  r  pron^tly  contended  Sadie, 
still  talking  agahist  time.  1  swung  in  to  h^  yuh 
otttta  a  hole,  but  I  ain^t  seen  aothin'  in  all  this  to  be 
writin'  home  aboutf 

"Well,  what  were  you  txptJ&ns  out  of  it?" 

"I  oqtedc  f  know  where  I'm  atf 

"Where  you're  at?  You're  back  home,  aren't 

you?  And  you  didn't  have  to  have  a  hotel  doctor 

solder  you  19  before  you  got  here,  did  you?  Well, 
I  did!" 

"And  after  bein'  pounded  'round  by  a  co^^  o' 
crooks  yuh  made  for  the  tall  ttndber  without  a  sign 
of  a  come-back  f 

Sadie's  lips  curled  with  scorn. 

"Say  I  D'you  stqtpose  I'm  gomg  to  let  that  man 
KeiKiatl  hang  the  Indian  sign  oa  nK  ami  e:  «ct  to 


THE  DOOR  01!  DREAD 


lis 


get  away  with  it?"  was  Dorgan's  angry  demand. 
"Not  much  I  He  tried  to  put  one  over  on  me,  and 
he's  going  to  pay  for  itl" 

Sadie  deemed  it  best  to  follow  her  new  tack  of 
bull-baiting. 

"Yuh  look  as  though  yiih'd  been  makin'  him  pay 
for  it !"  was  the  girl's  contemptuous  rejoinder. 

Dorgan  was  on  his  feet  in  a  twinkling.  There 
was  something  more  than  ever  taurine  about  the 
squared  shoulders  and  the  belligerently  towered 
head. 

"Give  me  those  papers,"  was  his  quiet,  unlocked 
for  Qs.mand.  "Give  me  those  papers,  and  I'll  show 
you!" 

Sadie's  lips  still  curled  with  contempt,  but  in  her 
opulent  young  bosom  she  experienced  a  feeling  not 
unlike  that  which  comes  to  the  passenger  of  an 
express-elevator  on  its  downward  flight.  It  was 
the  fatal  demand  at  last  And  she  could  see  no  yny ' 
of  evading  it 

She  dropped  into  her  chair,  behind  the  black- 
draped  table,  and  made  a  pretense  of  fumbling  with 
her  skirt-edges.  Then  she  suddenly  sat  up,  looked 
at  Dorgan's  expectantly  poised  figure,  and  from 
Dorgan  turned  her  gaze  toward  the  door. 


116        THE  DCX)R  OF  DREAP 


"What's  thatr  she  demanded 

For  dearly  to  her  now  came  the  sound  of  coii> 
tending  voices  from  the  haU  without  She  knew, 
as  she  listened,  that  one  of  those  voices  was  Kest- 
ner's,  and  a  great  wave  of  rdief  q>ed  throui^  her 
jtiredbody.  There  was  stitt  a  chance,  she  felt,  if  only 
Hat  cards  could  be  played  right 

But  she  was  puzzled  by  the  fact  that  Kestner't 
voice  was  rising  high  and  angry  above  the  protest- 
ing tones  of  the  negress.  She  was  still  worrying 
over  this  discovery  when  the  door  opened  and  Kest- 
ner  himself  strode  into  the  room.  But  it  was  a 
Kestner  in  no  way  like  the  immaculate  Kestner  of 
old.  His  wet  hat  was  puDed  down  over  lus  eyes, 
and  he  carried  a  newspapf;r  in  his  hand.  Sadie, 
with  her  heart  in  her  mouth,  tried  to  arrest  him 
with  a  warning  glance.  But  tiie  newccmier  ddiber- 
ately  ignored  both  Dorgan  and  the  diallenging  eye 
of  Dorgan  which  studied  him  from  under  its  tur- 
ban-like bandage.  He  walked  strai^^t  to  the  table 
where  Sadie  Wimpel  sat 

''So  you  call  yourself  a  dairvoyantP'  he  showed, 
and  still  Sadie  could  not  comprehend  the  source  of 
his  ituiignation.  She  gestured  to  him  for  cautioii, 
for  ttlenc^  but  he  ignored  the  nravement 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAP 


117 


'^on'ra  atbot  tlM  dieetktl  tUng  at  pick^ 
wimien  tlal  mr  got  loowr  he  intdy  ATowfd. 

I'm  whatr  adced  the  anased  Swlie. 

Kestner  flang  hia  folded  newspaper  indignantly 
down  on  the  table  in  front  of  her. 

"You  had  the  nerve  to  take  a  fiver  for  that  anre- 
thing  tip  of  yonr^"  he  dedared.  nenachig  her  with 
an  nnsteadjr  forefinger,  "and  you  didn't  come  witUa 
a  mile  of  a  winner  r  He  poshed  the  paper  toward 
her.  "Did  you  get  a  look-hi  on  that  list?  And  did 
yon  or  didn't  yon  advise  me  to  go  the  limit  on  those 
two  kmg  diots  you  were  so  sore  about  ^ 

Sadie  resignedly  shook  her  head.  It  "was  ioo 
nmdi  for  her.  Then  she  wearily  took  up  the  paper 
and  held  it  in  front  of  her.  As  she  dki  so  her  quick 
eye  cant-'tt  of  the  end  of  a  sealed  manihi  en* 
vdopeshowfaig  ten  between  its  folded  pages.  Her 
face  did  not  change.  But  she  drew  in  a  great  bieath 
of  relief.  She  coidd  have  hogged  Kestner  trntfl  his 
coQarhones  cradoed. 

Instead  of  any  aodi  amatoiy  oaOmr^  however, 
she  suddenly  rose  to  her  feet  and  confronted  him 
with  a  show  of  anger  as  great  as  his  own.  And  as 
she  did  so  tiM  folded  newspaper  fen  from  the  taWe- 
edge  to  the  floor  where  she  stood, 


118        THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAD 


"Whadda  yuh  mean  by  blowin*  in  here  and  inter- 
rupting a  privut  readin'?"  demanded  Sadie,  making 
sure  her  foot  was  planted  on  the  yellow  envelope. 
"I  ain't  no  sheet  writer,  and  I  ain't  no  miracle 
worker — ** 

"No,  but  you're  a  bunco-steerer,  and  you  can't 
con  me  1" 

"Say,  yuh  big  four-flush,  if  yuh  could  lay  a  bet  as 
vig'rous  as  yuh  can  beef  over  a  lost  chance  yuh'd  be 
a  second  Canfleld  b'fore  the  spring  circuits  closed!" 

"I've  laid  my  bets!  And  now  I'm  goin'  to  lay  a 
complaint!'* 

"Well,  yuh  needn't  cackle  as  if  yuh  was  goin'  to 
lay  an  egg!" 

"You're  a  faker!"  ' 

"Whadda  yuh  goin'  to  do  about  it?" 

"I'm  going  to  have  you  pinched,  that's  what  Fm 
going  to  do  about  itV* 

Sadie  leisurely  took  her  seat 

"Yuh  got  any  other  business  wit'  me  ?"  she  tak^ 
"For  this  is  my  crowded  evenin'  and  I  ain't  got 
*  much  time  for  pikers  f 

"Yottll  have  time  to  bum  yfhtn  I  get  throti|^ 
with  your 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  119 

Sadie,  turning  to  the  door,  called  to  her  turbaned 
negress. 

"Zrleika,  show  this  genTmun  where  he  kin  find 
the  nearest  cop  I" 

"And  you  think  I  won't  come  back  with  him?" 
demanded  the  irate  intruder. 

"It  costs  yuh  money  to  know  what  I  think!" 
cahnly  announced  the  girl  behind  the  black-draped 
table.  A  sense  of  triumph  welled  through  her  tired 
body.  She  felt  like  an  actress  who  had  faced  one 
of  her  big  scenes  and  had  not  failed  in  it.  Yet  she 
knew  a  vague  sensation  of  anxiety,  at  the  thought 
of  her  impending  isolation,  when  she  saw  Kestner 
turn  away.  She  had  always  been  a  little  intimi- 
dated by  the  man  from  the  Paris  office.  But  never 
had  her  desire  for  his  companionship  been  keener. 

"You'll  soon  change  your  song!"  he  announced, 
as  he  paused  for  a  momert  at  the  end  of  the  snake- 
embrssed  screen  and  stared  beUigerently  back  at  her. 
Sadie,  as  he  turned  and  stalked  out,  raked  her  mind 
for  some  adequate  excuse  to  keep  him  there.  But 
she  could  find  none.  She  began  to  realize,  to  her 
inner  consternation,  that  she  would  have  to  face 
Whatever  that  td^  hdd  for  her.  and  face  it  alone. 


120         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


And  she  tried  to  figure  up  how  many  hours  it  was 
since  she  had  eaten. 

"That's  the  brand  o'  squealer  I've  gotta  face  ev'ry 
day  in  this  business,"  she  wrathfuUy  announced. 

But  Dorgan,  who  had  dropped  into  his  chair  and 
remained  utterly  passive  through  all  this  scene,  sud- 
denly swung  about  on  her. 

"You're  steering  for  a  fall  here,"  he  announced, 
with  calm  conviction. 

"I'm  what?"  demanded  Sadie,  making  sure  the 
manila  envelope  was  under  her  foot. 

"I've  got  a  hunch  you're  going  to  have  trouMc 
here !  There's  something  wrong  about  that  guy,  and 
Iknowit!" 

"How  d'  yuh  kno^iir  it?" 

"He's  the  same  guy  I  saw  gum-shoeing  around 
here  two  days  ago !  And  if  he's  not  putting  some- 
thing over  on  this  house  there's  nothing  in  a  hunch." 

"Well,  all  he  can  do  is  close  me  up." 

"Thenwhat'llyoudo?" 

Sadie  pondered  this  question.  The  zest  of  battle 
was  in  her  veins  and  she  wanted  no  misst^  to  mar 
her  chance  of  final  victory.  She  was  one  small  fac- 
tor working  blindly  in  a  campaign  which  she  could 
not  atn^rehoid  in  its  entirety.  But  there  were  cer- 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


121 


tain  things,  she  knew,  which  Wilsnach  was  demand- 
ing of  her,  and  she  did  not  propose  to  be  a  blunder- 
head in  the  Service. 

She  let  her  gaze  dwell  pregnantly  on  Dorgan's 
battered  features.  She  still  had  very  thin  ice,  she 
remembered,  over  which  to  pick  her  way. 

"I  was  thinkin'  yuh  might  finance  me  for  a  move 
on  to  the  Windy  City,  if  I  gotta  move,"  she  solemnly 
yet  blandly  suggested. 

Dorgan  shifted  his  chair  closer  to  the  table  be- 
hind which  she  sat.  Then  he  studied  her  face  for 
a  moment  or  two. 
"I've  got  to  beat  it  myself,"  he  finally  began. 
"And  how  about  me  ?"  queried  Sadie. 
"That's  what  I'm  coming  to!"  was  his  answer. 
Still  again  he  studied  her  face,  and  her  hopes  rose 
with  his  silent  nod  of  approval.   But  they  went  as 
promptly  down  again  at  the  next  words  he  spoke. 
"Let  me  see  that  envelope  of  mine  I" 
She  was  conscious  enough  of  the  danger  ahead 
of  her.    She  knew  that  everything  depended  on 
whether  he  accepted  that  envelope  as  it  was  or  tore 
It  open  and  discovered  that  it  no  longer  held  his 
secret  plans.  One  rip  of  the  manila  paper  flap  and 
the  game  was  up.  Yet  she  knew  that  further  equtvw 


7 


122         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


ocation  would  only  serve  to  leave  him  suspicious, 
and  increase  the  danger.  So  she  betrayed  neither 
limitation  nor  active  concern  as  she  stooped  down 
behind  her  table,  fumbled  for  a  moment  with  her 
dress  drapery,  and  then  taacd  tlw  sealed  envdope 
on  the  table-top. 

It  was  the  aivelq>e,  and  not  tiie  man's  face,  that 
she  watched  as  his  heavily  sinewed  hand  descended 
on  the  yellow  oblong  of  paper,  turned  it  over  and 
then  placed  it  again  on  the  table-top. 

"Lady,"  said  Dorgan,  as  he  sat  bade  in  his  diair, 
"you've  done  me  a  good  turn;  and  I'm  going  to 
square  up  for  it,  but  I  can't  square  up  in  cashf 

Sadie  scarcely  heard  his  words,  for  all  her  mind 
was  intent  on  that  menadng  oblong  of  yellow.  Her 
very  heart  stopped  beating  as  he  again  readwd  out 
a  hand,  feisurdy  took  up  the  envdope  and  as  lei- 
surdy  stowed  it  down  in  his  inner  breast  podcet, 
buttoning  the  flap  of  this  pocket  over  it  It  was 
then  and  cmly  then  that  Sadie  can^  back  to  earth. 

"Cash's  about  the  cmly  thing  that  kin  talk  wit' 
me!"  die  announced.  AxkI  ^he  samotxaotd  it  with 
vigor,  for  she  saw  the  tide  of  affairs  was  now  flow- 
ing in  her  dire^on. 


V 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD  123 

He  leaned  forward  again  and  tapped  his  coat- 
front  just  over  his  heart. 

"I'm  going  to  slope  up  to  Canada  and  sit  on  this 
nest-egg  of  mine  until  the  excitement  blows  over," 
he  quietly  explained  to  her.  "This  town's  too  hot 
.  for  me,  and  I  can  afford  to  wait  until  it  cools  down. 
Money  isn't  much  good  after  they've  given  you  a 
number  and  shaved  your  head." 

"It'd  help  me  along  consider'ble !"  acknowledged 
Sadie. 

Dorgan  was  on  his  feet  by  this  time,  and  had 
taken  off  his  coat.  Then  he  as  deliberately  took  off 
his  vest  and  placed  it  on  the  end  of  the  table. 

'*Goiii*  to  turn  in?"  Sadie  solemnly  inquired. 

But  Dorgan,  as  he  took  a  small  pen-knife  from 
one  pocket  of  the  vest,  did  not  even  smile. 

"No;  it's  more  a  case  of  turn  out,"  he  explained 
as  he  flattened  the  vest  on  the  table-top.  He  saw 
the  look  of  wonder  in  her  eyes,  and  wrinkled  his 
face  in  a  one-sided  smile  as  he  stood  for  a  moment 
kwking  down  at  her. 

"I'm  taking  a  cliance  with  you  I  wouldn't  take 
with  any  man  this  side  of  the  Ohio,"  he  went  on, 
M  he  opened  the  knife,  turned  over  one  edge  of  the 

i 


\ 


124        THE  D<X)R  OF.  DREAD 


vest  and  began  picking  out  the  stitching  along  its 
lining-front. 

Sadie  watched  him  as  he  pulled  the  released  edges 
of  this  vest-lining  apart  and  from  its  hiding<^Iace 
between  the  garment-padding  drew  out  an  oblong 
of  black  silk  carefully  stitched  about  the  edges. 

This  oblong  was  scarcely  eight  indies  long  and 
two  indies  wide,  and  no  thidcer  than  an  empty  card- 
case. 

"That's  your  pay!"  announced  Dorgan  as  be 
tossed  it  down  on  the  table.  He  tock  iq>  his  vest 
and  put  it  on.  Then  he  did  the  sanw  with  his  coat 

Sadie  ccmtinued  to  view  him  with  carefully  am- 
erced disq»proval  as  he  once  mart  tock  up  the  pen- 
knife and  proceeded  to  cut  the  stitching  at  one  end 
of  his  mysterious  ol^»ig  of  Uadc  silk.  Frcmi  the 
interior  of  this  sheathing  he  drew  out  a  sheet  or  two 
of  paper  tightly  folded  tc^ieAer. 

"I  ain't  interested  in  lK»ise-plans/'  she  wearily  an- 
nounced,  as  he  unfolded  the  thin  sheets  on  her  table- 
top  and  revealed  to  her  puzzled  tye  an  indescribaldy 
intricate  network  of  lines  ai^  figures  and  lettering, 
tiie  latter  so  crowded  and  minute  that  for  all  its 
sdiolar-like  precisicm  she  was  unable  to  read  it. 

"Houise-plansf  ejaculated  Dorgan,  holding  up 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  125 


one  of  the  sheets  in  front  of  her.  "Do  you  call  that 
a  cottage  wall  or  the  cross-section  of  a  coast  gun?" 

*'I  never  seen  no  gun  like  that  1"  avowed  Sadie, 
squinting  closer  at  the  paper. 

"No;  you  never  did!  And  what's  more,  not  six 
people  outside  official  circles  ever  did  either  I  Do 
you  know  what  that  is?  That's  the  government's 
new  seventeen-inch  coast  gun  with  the  secret  Win- 
ton  breech-block.  There's  the  whole  business,  right 
there  on  two  sheets  of  paper!" 

"It  don't  look  much  t'  me !"  protested  the  unim- 
pressed Sadie  with  a  shoulder-shrug  of  disdain. 

**Well,  it  will  certainly  look  good  to  any  gun  ex- 
pttt  who  happens  to  clap  eyes  on  it.  And  it'll  look 
so  good  to  a  man  hanging  out  up  at  the  Alsatia  Hotel 
that  hell  hand  you  over  quite  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars for  those  specifications !" 

**\Vhat  man?"  inquired  the  still  skeptic  Sadie. 

"He's  a  guy  called  Breitman !" 

Sadie  stooped  lower  over  the  paper  that  still  lay 
on  the  table.  For  a  distinct  quiver  of  nerves  sped 
through  her  body  at  the  mention  of  that  all  too  fa- 
miliar name.  Breitman,  she  remembered,  was  one 
of  the  aliases  under  which  her  old-time  enemy,  Wal- 
laby Sam,  was  wont  to  masquerade. 


« 


126        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


She  taddeoly  felt  die  wu  on  the  friiife  of 
movements  that  were  too  momentous  for  her.  The 
thought  of  her  own  insignificance  intimidated  her, 
made  her  wish  for  the  reappearance  of  Wilsnadi 
or  the  intervention  of  Kestner  himself.  But  she 
knew  that  she  was  ordained  to  blunder  along  alone. 
And  since  she  most  go  it  alone,  she  decided  to  go  it 
slow. 

"Where'd  you  get  'em?"  she  asked,  witii  a  care- 
less hand  movement  toward  Uie  dotely  figured  sheet 
whidi  he  had  dropped  on  the  table. 

The  barricaded  k>ok  that  came  mto  his  ore  at  that 
question  did  not  escape  her. 

"I  got  that  gun  phm  before  I  got  this  other  stuff  r 

he  exi^ained,  as  he  taiiped  his  breast  wi&  a  casual 
forefit^ier. 

'^ut  ixdierer  she  persisted  for  she  knew  that 
if  there  were  leaks  bodi  Wilsnach  and  Keener  and 
the  chief  himself  would  ymok  to  know  where  tiiose 
leaks  had  occurred. 

"Up  at  Watervliet,"  he  acknowledged; 

**And  how?* 

T  roomed  *dth  an  Austrian  named  Heincdd.  He 
put  me  wise  to  what  ooidd  be  oade  oat  of  some  of 
the  ordnance  secrets*  onoe  we  got  awigr  witfi  tfaem. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  127 

He  was  in  the  gun  workt  there  with  me,  but  they 
got  leery  and  held  up  his  mail  He  skipped  the 
country  before  he  could  make  his  deal  I  decided 
to  move  on,  after  that,  so  I  got  a  transfer  to  Navy 
Department  woric'* 

"And  what  fell  good  is  a  gun  map  gom'  to  be  to 
me,  or  to  this  man  Breitman,  or  any  othor  wop 
who  isn't  busy  runnin'  a  gun  factory?"  dem-tnded 
Sadie.  It  was  well,  she  knew,  not  to  appear  too 
wise. 

"That  gun,"  retorted  Dorgan,  pounding  with  an 
impressive  forefinger  on  the  table-top,  "is  the  gun 
that's  going  to  win  the  next  war.  The  country  tiiat 
knows  how  to  make  it  is  the  coimtry  that  comes  <xA 
first  And  the  foreign  agent  who  thinks  you've 
got  those  specifications  is  going  to  be  after  'era  as 
keen  as  Kendall  was  after  that  new  submarine. 
And  he'd  got  it  if  he  played  straight,  bat  he  played 
crooked  and  lost  his  chance  f 

Sadie's  sigh  was  one  of  exhausted  patience. 

"And  this  guy  up  at  the  Alsatia  is  one  o'  them 
foreign  agents?" 

"Sure  he  is!  And  it's  vtp  to  you  to  finance  this 
thing  so  we  can  s{^  even  on  the  proceeds.  It'll 
ptit  you  on  Easy  Street  All  you've  got  to  do  is  to 


128 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


make  sure  of  the  money  before  you  hand  over  the 
pikers.  We've  got  the  real  thing;  there  isn't  another 
copy  outside  of  Strauss'  office  in  Washington  I" 

Sadie  reached  out  a  languid  hand  and  picked  up 
the  sheets.  She  looked  them  over  with  an  hidiifer- 
ent  eye,  and  then  proceeded  to  fold  them  together. 

"And  what  *m  I  to  git  for  this  stuff?"  she  in- 
quired. 

"As  nrach  as  you  can— the  more  the  better  1" 

Sadie  sat  back  and  viewed  him  with  open  hos- 
tility. But  she  made  it  a  point  to  keep  the  folded 
sheets  still  between  her  fingers. 

"Say,  what  d'yuh  take  me  for  anyway,  talkin' 
about  peddlm'  'round  gun  plans  that'll  gimme  a 
limousine  and  Eyetalian  gardens  out  on  Long 
Island?  Doesn't  it  strike  yuh  that  d'  stuff's  about 
as  dead  as  the  dropped  pocketbook  gag  and  the  fiUed- 
watch  stall  I  It's  about  even  wit'  the  ol'  silkworm 
scheme  and  the  Spanish  prisoner  fake  that  caught 
'em  ev'ry  time  in  the  eariy  ei^ties  I  But  yuh  can't 
make  it  go  down  wif  this  generation!  Yuh  gotta 
change  your  d<^  or  the  wire-gai^  tap  into  yotur 
circuit  and  sure  steer  yuh  for  an  early  fallf 

"listen  to  mef  cried  Dorgan,  sullenly  swmging 
abotrt  on  her. 


jHE  POOR  of:  dreap 


129 


Biti  Sadie,  at  that  paiticiil&r  moneiit,  wM  twt  Ut- 
tening  to  bim.  Her  tfiouChta  were  c^tewhefe.  For 
still  again  from  beyond  her  room-door  she  heard 
the  tooad  of  voioes,  ^  eKpoetidatoiy  tooet  of  tiw 
bewildered  ZuWlca,  and  Utt  heavier  tones  of  the 

unknown  intmder  whose  entranea  she  seemed  to  be 

dispittii^ 

For  a  second  or  two  Sadie  tfaougfat  the  intruder 
nu'gfat  be  Wilsnadi  oome  baek^  or  even  Kestner  hini> 
self.  But  hiterventton  so  timdjr  aa  that,  she  felt, 
was  too  good  to  be  true. 

Dorgan  hhnself  suddeidjbadced  away  and  turned 
to  the  door,  with  his  head  thrust  forward  and  his 
one  visibi .  eye  mterrogatively  blinking.  Then  he 
looked  a  little  h^Oeasly  at  tiie  hmguid-eyed  seeresa 
behind  the  table,  for  k>ttder  above  the  thidc  notes 
of  the  huge  negress  suddenly  sounded  tiie  authorita- 
tive guttural  of  the  roan'i  voke.  Then  came  a  silence 
which  seemed  imermtnable; 

'TAitfV  Ktnmr  said  Dorgan  in  a  whi^,  as 
he  continued  to  retreat  untit  he  stood  yidi  his  bade 
against  the  waS. 


C3IAPTER  SEVEN 


SADIE  WIMPEL  kept  her  eye  on  Dorgan  as  he 
badced  against  the  wall.  She  watched  him 
quite  at  doady  as  he  watched  the  dow.  Yet  as  she 
did  so  she  was  not  altogether  idle.  She  quietly 
pidced  up  the  two  sheets  of  India  p^>er  fdded  to- 
gether on  the  table.  Then  with  her  eyes  still  on 
Dorgan  she  unbuttoned  her  shirt-waist  and  as  quietly 
secreted  the  papers,  reassuring  herself  of  their  safely 
before  she  let  her  gaze  wander  from  her  enenqr't 
face. 

The  next  moment  she  was  lotmging  indecently 
back  in  her  diair,  viewing  with  veiled  eyes  the  door 
through  \v  hich  Kev.dcU  would  enter.  Yet  for  all  her 
pose  of  impassivity  a  close  observer  might  have  ik)- 
ticed  the  quickened  throb  of  her  throat-pulse  and 
the  quickened  rise  and  fall  of  her  breaT  for  she 
was  only  too  keenly  aware  that  the  advent  of  Keu- 
dell  meant  the  advent  of  a  mwer  and  a  grei^  pariL 

130 


THB  IXX»t  09.  DREAD 


131 


And  that  peril  was  all  the  more  disturbing  because 
it  remained  still  undefined. 

She  sat  without  perceptible  movement,  however  as 
the  door  swung  open  aiid  Keudell  himself  strode  in 
past  the  snake-embroidered  screen.    Nor  did  she 
move  as  he  advanced  toward  the  center  of  the  room, 
seeming  to  fill  it  with  his  huge  presence,  menacing 
it  with  his  smile  of  apparent  unconcern.   On  his 
scarred  blond  face,  still  damp  from  the  driving  rain 
through  wh.     '    had  passed,  was  an  expression  too 
unconcerned  to  be  called  a  sneer  and  too  sinister  to 
be  described  as  a  smile.   It  was  only  a  pale  and 
slightly  protuberant  eye,  moving  restlessly  from  side 
to  side,  which  typified  the  alertness  of  the  mind  be- 
hind the  pretended  apathy  of  the  gross  and  heavy 
body. 

But  most  interested  Sadie  Wimpel  was  the 
fact  that  Kcudell's  right  hand  rested  in  the  loose 
side  pocket  of  his  coat.  It  remained  there  with  a 
rigidity  which  tended  to  thrust  the  comer  of  that 
carefully  tailored  garment  slightly  forward  and  did 
not  at  first  thought  add  to  the  impressiveness  of  the 
figure.  But  Sadie  had  seen  enough  of  underworld 
life  to  venture  a  guess  as  to  just  what  Keudell  hdd 
in  that  hidden  right  hand. 


132        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


"So  this  18  your  hangKmt?"  the  newcomer  finally 
remaiked,  taking  a  step  or  two  nearer  t!w  ttiAt  be- 
hind which  the  indifferent-eyed  seeress  sat.  Dor- 
gan,  as  Keudell  advan^  deeper  into  the  room, 
swung  slowly  about  so  as  to  keep  facing  him. 

The  pale-faced  seeress  seemed  to  emerge  from 
her  catalepsy. 

"Ain't  the  wall-paper  to  your  likin'?"  she  calmly 
inquired. 

Keuddl  stood  for  a  momoit  returning  Iwr  stare. 

"And  it  seems  so  short  a  time  since  you  and  I 
yrtn  engaged  in  a  ccnversation  whidi,  imfortn- 
natcly,  did  not  come  to  a  finish  T  suavely  intoned 
her  huge  Uond  visitor. 

"It  was  finidi  enons^'for  mer  pron^y  asserted 
the  young  wtMnan  confronting  him.  The  half-sneer- 
ing smile  went  from  Keuddl's  face.  For  one  brief 
nooment  his  glacial  eye  rested  on  Dorgan. 

"So  you  two  thou|^  yon  cotdd  get  away  widi  ft," 
he  said,  ¥rith  an  oddly  me^tative  movement  of  tiie 
jaw  muscles  which  did  not  tend  to  add  to  his  attract- 
iveness. Sadk  waited  for  Dorgan  to  speaks  hat  that 

worthy  raerdy  stood  watdiing  the  newcomer,  watdi- 
ing  him  with  a  steely  and  noQ<QnmittaI  staie  of 
deliberation. 


THE  IHDOR  OF  DREAD  133 


"Ain't  yuh  kind  o'  takin'  chances,"  the  young 
woman  mildly  inquired,  "blowin'  into  a  privut  house 
where  yuh  ain't  been  askt?" 

"I'm  going  to  take  more  than  chances  1"  retorted 
Keudell. 

"Ain't  he  the  ol'  cut-up !"  cooed  the  derisive  Sadie. 
But  her  mockery  had  small  effect  on  Keudell. 

"You  know  what  I  came  for,"  he  deliberately 
announced. 

"For  to  git  your  hand  read?"  asked  the  innocent- 
eyed  Sadie. 

Her  evasiveness  seemed  too  much  for  Keudell's 
patience.  He  turned  away  from  her  and  confronted 
the  watchful-eyed  Dorgan. 

"I  want  those  papers,"  he  quietly  announced. 

"I  haven't  got  'em,"  retorted  the  man  with  his 
back  to  the  wall,  "and  you  wouldn't  get  them  if  I 
had 'em!" 

It  was  Sadie  who  cut  in  before  Keudell  could 
speak  again. 

"Don't  yuh  let  this  pink-eye  buffalo  yuh  into  sayin' 
or  doin*  what  yuh  don't  wantta!"  she  shriUed  out, 
with  a  sudden  show  of  anger.  "For  he's  goin'  to 
git  outta  here,  and  git  out  quick,  or  he'U  be  took 
outr 


134        JHE  DOOR  OF]  DREAD. 


"WhoHtalMineoiit?" 

"What's  the  matter  wit'  a  bundi  o'  cops  idotn'  it  V* 
**Whowia  get  them?" 

"I  gotta  feelin'  that  me  maid's  already  out  after 
'cmr 

"Neither  you  nor  your  maid  can  leave  this  house," 
calmly  announced  KeudeU.  "And  nobody's  going 
to  leave  it  until  I  get  what  I  came  after." 

"Even  though  ytdi're  pinched  on  tlw  way  out?" 

Keudell  laughed  at  her. 

"You  fail  to  ronember  that  I'm  an  attach^  of  the 
Austrian  Embassy,  and  members  of  an  embassy  can 
rot  be  arrested." 

It  was  Sadie's  turn  to  laugh.  She  even  suqwcted 
him  of  lyii%. 

"I  don't  care  if  yuh're  the  Khig  of  SiamI  Yuh 
can't  pull  tiiat  wild>west  stuff  this  dose  to  Broad- 
wayl  It  ain't  bcin'  done  this  season f 

"How  about  that  nuui  of  mine  you  shot  through 
the  leg?" 

"He  got  what  was  comin'  to  him  T' 

"And  I'm  going  to  get  whi^  is  ocmiit^  to  me.  I 
have  a  rig^  to  tlK»e  papers,  and  I'm  goti^  to  get 
tiion." 

Sadie  was  thinkii^  both  hard  and  fiut  Ikit  Ui 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  135 

disguise  the  fact  that  her  empty  little  head  was  for 
once  working  overtime,  she  languidly  took  up  a  cig- 
arette and  lighted  it.  Then  she  looked  at  Keudell. 
with  pity  in  her  eye. 

"Honest,  King,  yuh  wring  me  heart  wit*  thoughts 
o*  the  or  days  when  the  rubes  were  buyin*  gold 
bricks  down  to  Union  Square!  For  yuh're  sure 
workin'  the  wrong  game!  Ain't  yuh  ever  goin'  to 
git  gerry  to  the  fact  yuh  can't  throw  a  scare  into 
us  two?  And  ain't  yuh  ever  goin'  to  wake  up  to 
the  fact  that  if  yuh  want  them  submarine  models 
yuh  gotta  git  down  and  talk  business?" 

The  one  thing  for  which  Sadie  was  now  maneu- 
vering was  time.    Dorgan  she  no  longer  feared. 
He  and  his  destinies  were  nothing  to  her.  All  she 
remembered  was  that  she  carried  certain  papers 
which  must  reach  either  Wilsnach  or  Kestner,  and 
nobody  else.    She  carried  them,  yet  she  carried 
them  at  a  time  when  their  possession  was  a  peril. 
The  heavy-witted  Dorgan,  she  felt,  might  still  be- 
tray her  to  save  his  own  scalp.  And  she  felt  equally 
assured  of  the  fact  that  Keudell  himself  would  kill 
her  as  readily  as  he  would  strike  a  match,  rather 
than  let  those  gun  plans  slip  through  his  fingers. 
"There's  been  too  much  talking  busincn,"  n 


136        JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD. 


Keu<kU'8  retort,  "and  nothing  came  of  it  And 
now  I'm  not  going  to  waste  words  and  I'm  not 
going  to  waste  time.  I  want  those  papers!" 

Time,  however,  was  the  one  thing  which  Sadie 
was  insisting  that  he  should  waste.  And  dosely  as 
she  watched  her  enen^,  and  that  enemy  watched 
her,  oat  of  her  fingers  was  rqpeatedly  and  frantic- 
ally playing  on  the  tmtton  of  her  hidden  push  bdl 
and  she  was  silently  praying  for  intervention,  in- 
tcrvention  in  the  form  of  ZnMka,  or  Wilsnadi,  oi: 
Kestner  himself. 

"Where'd  yuh  git  a  liceme  to  come  rough-housin' 
tiirough  this  ward  and  squealin'  about  papers  3ruh 
ain't  even  paid  for  yet?"  she  burst  out,  with  all  the 
insdence  at  her  command. 

Keudell,  with  his  pale  ^es  fixed  on  Dorgan't 
face,  quietly  lifted  his  ri|^  hand  from  the  side 
pocket  where  it  had  been  re^di^. 

"My  license  is  rig^t  hextf*  he  announced. 

"Hully  gee  1"  gasped  Sadie.  For  Keudell's  threat 
of  force  was  no  kmger  a  vdted  cme.  In  his  half- 
raised  right  hand  he  held  a  heavy-bodied  at^onnttc 
revolver.  And  he  repeated  his  command  of  "I 
want  those  papersP'  as  he  Hepped  dofer  to  tiie 
strangely  divergent  pair  opposing  him. 


JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


137 


There  was  something  in  Keudell's  face,  as  he 
stood  facing  her,  which  sent  a  distinct  wave  of  ap- 
prehension through  that  watchful-eyed  young  wo- 
man.  It  was  not  merely  the  face  of  a  braggart 
and  bully.  It  was  the  face  of  an  aggressively  de- 
termined man,  who,  for  reasons  that  could  not  be 
fathomed,  found  himself  confronted  by  his  last  re- 
source.   There  was  no  longer  mere  belligerency 
about  the  grim  lines  of  the  mouth.    There  was 
something  strangely  like  desperation  itself.  It  sug- 
gested a  final  abandonment  to  a  course  which  could 
no  longer  be  evaded,  a  final  comprehension  of  con- 
sequences which,  however  grave  they  might  prove, 
now  had  to  be  unflinchingly  faced.  Something  deep 
within  Sadie  Wimpel's  unanalytical  little  soul  con- 
vinced her  of  the  fact  that  Keudell  was  at  the  end 
of  his  rope,  and  being  at  the  end  of  his  rope,  was 
no  longer  going  to  be  satisfied  with  half  measures. 

Then  her  eyes  followed  Keudell's  figure  as  he 
stepped  doscr  to  the  sullen-faced  Dorgan.  Dorgan, 
she  knew,  was  not  subtle.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  was  not  easily  intimidated. 

"You  can't  hold  me  up  this  way  1"  he  rebelliously 
announced,  with  his  one  unbandaged  eye  blinking 


iTI 

.1 


138        .THE  DOOR  OF!  DREAD 


down  at  the  somber  gunmetal  of  the  leveled  re- 
volver. 

"Can't  ir  was  KeudeU's  cry. 
"Nq,  you  can't !  And  what's  more  you  can't  even 
scare  me  I" 

"Then  I'll  do  a  little  more  than  merely  scare  youf* 
said  Keudell  with  an  audible  gasp,  as  he  took  one 
step  closer  to  the  man  against  the  wall. 

Sadie's  heart  leaped  up  into  her  throat.  She  knew 
what  was  coming.  She  knew  that  Keudell  had  suf- 
fered indignities  enough  to  leave  him  desperate. 
That  much  was  evident  from  the  very  fact  that 
he  had  sought  her  out  in  her  own  home;  that  he 
had  forced  his  way  into  the  enemy's  lair;  that  he 
had  been  willing  to  place  his  head  in  the  lion's 
mouth.  And  unimaginative  as  she  was,  this  thought 
fixed  in  her  mind  the  value  of  the  papers  she  car- 
ried in  her  own  breast,  the  papers  for  whidi  Wils- 
nach  would  have  traveled  half-way  around  the 
workl.  They  were  certainly  worth  the  fight  But 
onct  Keudell  broke  loose,  her  last  chance  was  gone. 
And  Keudell  was  surely  going  to  break  loose. 

"Wait  r'  was  her  shrill  cry  as  she  suddenly  stood 
up  behind  her  table.  "If  yuh  want  your  papers  that 
bad,  you  sure  kin  have  'em!" 


JHE  PCX)R  OF,  DREAQ  139 


For  one  Inctioii  ol  a  lecond  Keuddl  looked  about 
at  her.  But  lie  still  ktpt  the  revolver  pointed  at 
Dorgan's  ribs. 

'1  intend  to  have  them  r 

•Then  put  that  gun  down  and  yuh'n  git 

"Where  are  theyr 

"In  that  man's  pocket  r 

"Then  come  and  take  them  otit  of  his  pocket! 
And  come  quidcT 

For  one  brief  second  Sadie  Win^el  hesitated. 
But  it  was  a  second  and  no  more,  for  she  had  de- 
cided on  her  plan  and  intended  to  carry  it  through. 
She  nmnded  the  taUe  and  stepped  dose  to  the 
rebeUious-eyed  Dorgan.  She  even  essayed  a  re- 
proving jerk  of  his  coat  Upcl. 

"Can't  yuh  see  the  jig's  up  ?"  she  demanded.  For 
time  was  tiie  one  tiuQg  for  which  she  was  still 
fighting. 

"Hand  over  those  papers  I"  repeated  Keudell. 
And  Sadie  knew  it  was  not  a  moment  for  trifling. 

SI»  ^pged  a  hand  down  inside  Dorgan's  coat, 
unbuttoned  the  pocket-flap,  and  drew  out  the  yellow 
manila  envelope  which  he  had  stored  away  there. 
There  was  something  more  than  reproof  in  Dor- 
gan's eye  as  she  did  so;  there  was  Wind  revolt  and 


140        THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


the  white  heat  of  a  rage  tint  had  no  dutnee  of  ex- 
hauttiiig  itself  in  action.  Btit  fay  this  time  DcMrgan 
was  a  mere  biddent  in  the  widening  drde  of  Sadie's 
emerpmta.  What  she  wanted  now  was  escape  from  . 
that  house,  and  esc^  at  any  cost. 

She  saw  Dorgan  raise  a  hand,  as  though  to  strike 
at  her,  and  lAnt  cat^t  at  this  movemmt  as  a  pre- 
text for  dodging  back  behind  her  table.  For  a 
monttnt  she  nursed  the  hope  of  contintiing  her 
ili^  through  the  blade  cnrtahis  that  draped  the 
front  of  her  materializing  cabinet,  and  through  the 
cabinet  to  the  rear  door  that  opened  on  the  hall, 
and  from  the  hall  to  the  upper  regions  of  the  house. 

But  this  hope  lasted  (mly  for  a  nxnnent,  for  Keo- 
deU  was  at  her  side  befmre  she  had  even  rounded 
the  taUe-end.  He  stood  so  cbse  to  her,  as  die 
drew  tq>,  tint  ^ht  revolver  barrd  in  his  iq>raised 
hand  pressed  against  her  body  and  gave  her  a  nm- 
way  of  chills  up  and  ^>wn  die  baddiooe. 

Hand  me  that  padcagef*  he  commanded.  He 
^ke  with  a  quwt  huddness  of  voice  diat  seemed 
more  threatening  and  more  intimidating  than  the 
loudest  shout  could  be. 

Durii^  one  momei^&  sfmat  Sadie's  qnertkming 
tyts  rested  on  those  of  her  caf^r,  for  the  fingers 


.THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD 


141 


of  the  !eft  hand  wcie  now  damped  about  her  arm. 


She  saw  the 


fotdidmesa 

1  quibbling. 


all  farther  evasion,  the 
»tiU  watching  him,  she 
slowly  raised  her  hand  and  held  oat  tlK  sealed  ma- 
nila  envelope. 

KetideU  took  potaesdoa  of  it  with  a  dutch  of 
the  fingers  and  a  quick  hackward  movement  like 
that  of  a  child  jerking  a  dicstnut  from  an  over- 
heated hearth.  As  he  did  so  Sadie  was  vaguely 
condoos  of  Dorgan'fl  stodtlqr  movement  aUmg  the 
roooKwan.  She  had  no  time  to  ghre  this  much 
though  for  she  saw  that  Keudell  was  engaged  in 
an  equally  absorbing  movement  1^  realized  that 
he  was  promptly  and  deUberatdy  tearing  open  the 
end  of  the  manifat  envdope  which  she  had  handed 
to  him.  And  the  opening  of  that  envelope,  she 
knew,  wookl  brh^  atiU  aaodwr  diange  to  the  shift- 
ing drama. 

Sadie  leaned  forward  a  little  over  the  table-edge, 
watching  the  big  blond  figure,  oddly  cabn  in  the 
presence  of  a  crisb  whidi  die  knew  could  no  longer 
be  averted.  Sht  saw  Keuddl  draw  forth  the  con- 
tents of  ibt  opened  envdope.  She  saw,  even  be- 
fore he  tmfdded  it,  tt&t  the  diert  widch  he  had 
withdrawn  was  nc^ng  more  than  the  carefully 


142        JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


folded  page  of  a  newspaper.  Sht  saw  the  fordgn 
agent  stare  down  at  this  newspaper  page,  stare  down 
at  it  a  little  stupidly,  with  his  jaw  musdes  slightly 
rdbuced.  Then  he  no  longer  occupied  her  atten- 
tion, for  she  became  suddenly  ocmsdous  of  tiie  fact 
that  Dorgan  no  longer  stood  with  his  bade  against 
the  wall,  but  had  advanced  toward  the  center  of 
the  ro(»n,  and  even  as  his  nnbandaged  eye  was  bent 
on  Kewldl  his  right  hand  was  groping  quickly  and 
foolishly  about  the  bowl  of  goldfish  on  its  little  tri- 
pod of  Ruskin  bronze. 

For  Dorgan  himself  had  undoubtedly  been  await- 
ing that  nxnnent  of  dividtd  attention  on  the  part 
of  his  taemy.  Even  as  his  hand  dosed  on  the  lip 
of  the  glass  bowl,  about  whidi  the  small  swarm  of 
iridescent  bodies  were  dreamily  revotvinj^  Sadie 
stood  puzzled  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  movonent. 
She  was  puzzled,  too,  by  the  quidc  writhe  of  his 
bo^,  like  the  twist  of  a  ball-thrower's  torso,  as  he 
winded  and  sw^t  the  bowl  from  its  btonze  tripod. 

Then  sIm  uiKlerstood.  For  with  mie  and  the  same 
mawmeat  the  bowl  with  its  flame-c(dc»ed  IxxSes 
and  its  gravd-bed  and  its  galkm  of  green-tinted 
water  went  hurtling  rtrai|^  at  the  had  of  die 
startled  KeoddL 


THE  DOOR  of;  DREAQ  143 

It  itrtick  true.  But  KetKkS  still  won  hit  hat, 
and  the  ttiff  fiber  brim  of  this  aerved  to  braak 
somewbat  the  force  of  the  blow.  Yet  it  cotdd  not 
stop  the  blindhig  ddnge  of  water  and  gravd  and 
madly  flopping  bodies  which  cascaded  about  hhn. 
And  abnost  coincklcnt  with  the  crash  of  the  break- 
ing glass  came  the  sound  of  Keudell's  revolver  fall- 
ing to  the  fioor. 

Yet,  oddly  enou^i,  what  most  held  Sadie's  atten* 
tion  at  the  moment  was  one  goldfish  iHiidi  writhed 
and  flopped  on  Keudell's  wide  shoulder  as  he  stag- 
gered back  against  the  table-edge.  She  watched  it 
as  it  danced  like  a  fiame  down  his  vest-front  and 
then  minuetted  with  its  fellows  at  his  leet»  like 
quavering  dueds  of  sunU^  dancaig  on  ^  water* 
stained  carpet 

She  stared  in  horror  as  KeudeU's  heels  atianptd 
impartially  on  these  fragile  bits  of  pulsing  life  and 
on  the  crunching  fragments  of  bowl-glass.  She 
saw  him  grope  and  flounder  about,  Uinded  for  a 
moment  by  both  the  bbw  and  Utt  shower  about 
his  head. 

The  next  mooiei^  however,  he  &d  recovered 
himself  and  was  stooping  to  catch  ^  fiifien 
revohrer.  At  the  snne  instant  that  his  fingers  cani 


144 


THE  DOOR  Ob:  DREAD 


CBBIltt  WIOI UOI|pR  lOOiE  tWO  ^pnCK  IMpt 

wafd,  twtei^  bade  fab  fight  foot  ai  lie  cane  to 
a  itop^  He  Ideked  vkio^^,  aai  all  hb  force, 
lib  faearj  iboe  ttar^unf  the  fireum  and  the  gra^ 
isg  ia^n  at  the  same  time. 

The  biow  tent  tiir  feydver  ecattlbig  aeross  tl-  ^ 
carpeted  loor,  tmder  the  biadc-dfified  t^Mt  and  out 
of  afehi  beycn^  the  cnrtaiM  of  outtenal- 
i^m^  cwtiwet. 

Hw  lefiee  of  ^  bbw  alio  sent  Keudefi'a  Dody 
swingmg  half-way  about,  and  brought  Dorxsa  him- 
wAi  etanerhK  the  table  hilitwi  whi^  Sad^ 

Wimpcl  ao«r  itood.  There  hb  haad  fell  oa 
^aiito>oi-Pams  skitU  whi^  alood  1^  hli^  ml- 
vet  m^.  He  caught  it  vtpf  irrevwentfy.  b}'  tht  aw* 
bone.  The  aext  momnt  ht  stM  it  wkh  afl  his 
iotce  ^ahlst  the  fa^f4i»iied  %ody  of  ICet^^ 
nhert  k  ricochetted  frm^  tke  h  avv  shoekfe^r  aaci 
crash^  against  the  door-xniBie  hattermg  r  vo  a 
hsodred  pieces. 

Bat  bf      time  Ke^eil  was  i  o  1(^«e}  «savc. 
He  iwiiiim^  iteft  tfid  amed  a  ^&ir.     t  i#%e  «at 
iMowem  Aat  Dergam  ce^fht  up  the  clairvoyant 
latifi  rtyinl  finyt  glofae  erf  sdid        from  its 
bronae  tr^ad  nd  seat  it  csMUMiadif^^  agMuist  his 


JH£  IXX>R  Of:  DREACI 


145 


enrmy,  Kenddl  himself  flunf  the  chair  ytith  all  hit 

foKiC, 

DorgM's  howl,  half  of  anger  and  half  of  pain, 
as  ^  diair-faadc  itrack  against  his  hip,  was  brute- 
like  «r  J  laroaty  and  singuhurly  suggestive  of  the 
^      oi  a  atock-yards  calf. 

^kit  ddie  did  not  wait  or  more.  She  swung 
at  dovr  through  the  curtains  of  her  cabin  i- 
fiunt.  ier  f.  t  impulse  was  to  find  and  possess 
herself  of  the  .alien  revolver.  But  as  she  stood 
staring  about  at  the  back  of  her  cabinet  she  saw 
the  door  to  invitingly  confronting  her.  At  the  same 
time  she  realized  that  ^e^  Bight  remained  unob- 
senmi  by  the  two  oomba;  ^s.  And  a  natural  and 
mstinctive  propulsion  tow<        ape  asserted  itsdf. 

She  opened  the  door  an  :  «d  through  it  into 
the  shadowy  back  hallway,  where  she  could  still 
hear  the  muffled  crash  of  furniture  and  the  thud  of 
stamping  feet  But  Sadie  no  longer  hesitated.  Her 
passion  to  reach  iht  open  was  now  an  all-consum- 
ing one.  She  was  even  vaguely  conscious,  as  she 
darted  for  the  front  of  the  house,  of  a  gaunt  and 
towering  figure  bound  close  to  the  spindles  of  the 
stair-banister.  1^  los  dimly  aware  that  this  dusky 
figure  was  that  of  her  own  attendant,  Zuleika,  and 


146        THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


that  she  hung  there  tied  and  trussed  with  the  vol- 
uminous cotton  drapery  of  her  own  Oriental  turban. 
A  fold  of  this  same  turban  had  also  been  used  as  a 
gag,  knotted  and  tied  tight  across  the  bruised  cheek- 
flaps  and  holding  the  rigid  head  close  in  against 
the  stair-spindles.  Above  the  gash  of  wiiito  this 
gag  made  across  the  dusky  face,  the  eyes  of  the  un- 
happy negress  rolled  dolorously,  both  in  speechless 
revolt  against  such  treatment  and  in  mute  appeal  f  ot 
release. 

But  Zuleika  no  longer  figured  in  Sadie's  move- 
ments or  her  sympathies.  Her  one  obsession  was 
to  reach  the  open.  And  her  passion  to  escape  was 
based  on  something  more  than  mere  fear.  It  was 
based  on  the  knowledge  that  she  was  acting  for 
the  Service,  and  that  now,  as  never  before,  the  Serv- 
ice stood  in  need  of  her  help. 

She  was  out  through  the  door  and  half-way  down 
the  house-steps  before  she  noticed  that  a  taxicab  was 
standing  at  the  curb.  Its  engine  was  humming,  and 
from  under  the  dripping  hood  of  its  driving-seat  a 
water-proofed  figure  was  studiously  watching  her 
approach. 

As  she  reached  the  sidewalk  and  turned  to  the 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  147; 


east  this  driver  speeded  up  his  engiiw  aiul  rtirted 
westward.  She  fdt  rdieved  at  this  movement,  tm- 
til  she  discovered  through  Hit  falling  rain  another 
taxicab  facing  her  farther  down  the  block.  The 
driver  of  this  cal^  the  moment  he  cat^it  ngfat  of 
her,  jumped  from  his  seat  She  at  once  divined 
his  infemtion,  and  modi  as  she  dreaded  a  tttrtak 
from  the  directtcm  of  BrcMulway,  she  swvsag  sharply 
about  and  started  westward.  By  this  time  she  was 
nnmii^. 

Before  she  had  taken  a  hundred  steps  die  could 
hear  the  hnm  of  tiie  second  taxicab  and  ^  chudc 
of  its  hose  tiie-diains  against  iht  fender-wii^ 

That  cab,  she  knew,  was  pursuing  her.  And  she 
also  knew,  this  time,  ttiat  die  side-street  n^icfa 
hdd  them  was  pnctically  deserted.  Her  one  object 
now  was  to  reach  Eighth  Avenue,  where,  if  no  pa- 
trolman happened  in  sight  there  wouki  at  least  be 
decent  citizens  enough  to      on  for  fwotectieMn. 

But  the  taxicab  wfaidi  had  preceded  her  west* 
ward,  die  suddenly  discovered,  had  already  swung 
shar^  Hboi^  and  drawn  ^  ctose  to  tiie  carb  at  tiw 
Avenae  oonier.  And  diia  &rst  driver,  Oe  hte  ooo* 
feden^  i»d  dcKCBded  from  his  ses^  sstd  was 


148        JHE  DCX)R  OF  DREAD 


I^aitity  awaiting  her  apfHroadi.  And  ttiH  time 
seemed  nobody  in  nf^t  to  whom  she  couM  9ppetl 
for  heip. 

It  was  not  that  she  was  greatiy  afraid  for  her 
omi  sdtt.  More  than  once,  in  her  earlier  days  of 
adwjittire»  iA»  had  proved  to  the  predatoiy  male 
a  a^ve  cmly  too  readily  liberated  and  too  willingly 
abandoned.  But  she  remembered  the  gun  plans  hid- 
den away  behind  the  flimsy  barrier  of  her  i^irt-waist 
front,  and  she  knew  what  to  expect  from  any  agent 
of  KeudeH  A  five-minute  seardi  in  the  darkened 
body  of  dtiKr  of  those  cabs,  wtx  knew,  wouki  cause 
her  and  poor  Wilsnach's  pg^trs  to  part  eompaiqr 
forever.  And  she  wanted  this  to  be  a  heme  run. 
Sinee  she  had  gone  through  so  nmdi  cm  ^t  day 
of  days,  she  did  not  intend  to  pve  up  uirtil  the  hut 
ditch  was  reached.  That  modi  at  least  she  owed  to 
Win$ie. 

Suddenly,  as  she  ran,  ttut  veered  diagonally  across 
the  rain-pooled  street,  her  instinct  tellLtg  her  that 
tiK  farther  she  kept  away  from  that  vraiting  taad- 
cab  with  Its  shiister  dodowed  hood  the  better  wonM 
he  her  dnnoes.  The  driver,  who  was  not  igr  >r  v  t 
of  her  tnaamver,  stepped  pnmfi^  itot  tiie  ii  jot 
of  his  car  and  croticd  the  ride-itwet  ahead  of  her. 


JHE  DOOR  OF,  DREAQ 


149 


He  did  not  run,  since  »  dripping  pedestrian  or  two 
imposed  m  him  ^  necenity  of  not  exciting  undue 
suspicions.  Yet  Sadie  saw  tiiat  he  mi^  stil!  head 
her  off  before  she  turned  south  into  Ei|^  Avenue. 
And  she  knew  the  second  cab  was  close  behind  her, 
making  impossiUe  any  hteral  eso^  into  the  doofw 
ways  part  whkh  die  was  qweding. 

Then,  of  a  sudden,  a  wave  of  renewing  hope 
swept  IhroQgh  her  tired  body.  For  under  the  dearer 
ligirt  of  ^  street  corner  lanq>  beyond  the  wattkig 
taxicah  she  made  out  the  crimson  ofalonf  of  a  nmSH 
box.  It  stood  oat,  a  quadrang^  of  warm  red,  as 
reassorhif  and  consoling  as  a  haibor  U0A  to  a  4i»> 
tressed  ak^per.  Tririal  as  k  seemed,  it  soddeafy 
typified  the  orpi&ed  streagdi  of  a  m^o^s 
eramemal  machhiery.  It  stood  there,  a  sanetnaiy 
demanding  respect,  sotneAhig  official  and  inriolH^ 
aomeOiQf  whidi  it  was  peril  to  ontraffe. 
It  was  not  natil  aha  iHard  ^  pandag  cah  dnmr 
b^nd  her  thai  d»  ventured  ooee  more  to  ^aafe 
her eonrsemd dart acfoes^ street  Shewasnta- 
nmg  now  w^  Uttte  groaning  gasps  of  desperation, 
whhnperinf  Iflie  a  hurried  pup,  but  grimly  resobed 
to  readi      miM  lex  before  who  had 

come  bttwMB  her  and  her  goal  could  do  ap^ 


150        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

An  die  adced  was  to  reach  that  corner  witiioiit 
interruption.  Once  she  was  there,  she  knew,  and 
once  her  precious  packet  was  dropped  within  its 
protecting  sheet-iron  sanctuary,  she  did  not  much 
care  what  happened.  So  she  ran  now  as  she  never 
ran  before.  ! 

Her  foot  turned  as  An  took  the  muddy  curb  on 
the  run,  and  she  went  down  and  slithered  across  the 
wet  pavement  like  a  base-runner  charging  for  third. 
But  that  movement  brous^t  her  body  into  contact 
with  the  box-piUar.  At  the  same  instant  that  she 
strugiM  to  her  knees  she  drew  the  packet  from  its 
hiding^ace.  The  next  moment  die  had  staggered 
to  her  feet  and  shoved  the  preckms  packet  into  the 
narrow  maw  of  the  box  itself,  which  seoned  to 
•waDow  it  like  a  sea-lion  swaUowing  a  fish-taiL 
And  Hmt,  ^  knew,  was  the  end  of  her  battle. 

St»  felt  the  tttdden  weight  of  a  hand  on  her 
ahoidder.  It  was  more  a  Mow  than  a  (Mdu  and 
die  did  not  have  strength  enoui^  to  redst  its  force. 
So  she  once  more  subsided  to  the  wet  pavement, 
going  down  as  quktly  and  invertebrate  as  a  straw- 
stuffed  dummy,  but  stSl  dii^iing  sttdibonily  to  the 
painted  box-pillar  with  her  wet  arms.  Asshechng 
there,  however,  she  ttircw  back  her  head  and 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


151 


screamed,  again  and  again,  witii  all  liie  pow  of 
her  lungs. 

"Slam  her  one,  Htnikr'  calmly  si^gestod  ^  aee* 
ond  driver,  as  he  joined  his  confederate,  "or  that 
she-hyenaH  have  the  whole  ward  buttin' m  on  thisf* 

Sadie  ducked  as  Huidc  proo^tly  proceeded  to 
slam  her  one,  and  Hunk's  fist  came  into  violent 
coUision  with  the  box-fnUar.  Whereopoo  Sadie 
screamed  louder  than  ever.  So  arrestmg  were  those 
screams,  k  fact,  ibat  neither  Honk  aor  his  water- 
proofed friend  had  the  chance  for  a  second  ^brt 
A  spindle-legged  messenger  boy  suddenly  scurried 
across  the  Avenue.  A  second  hiter  a  rooad-qred 
German  botcher  emef|^  from  his  shop,  wi^  his 
carving  knife  and  one  comer  of  a  ruddj^atahied 
apron  still  in  Ins  hand. 

"Whadda  yuh  dohi*  f  that  rib^  wspimyT*  im- 
personal^ inquired  the  ^indle^egged  yondi,  lor  the 
two  water-proofed  figures  were  now  tuggiof  hi  uni- 
son at  die  woman  who  stiU  dung  to  tiie  box-pfflw. 

'This  souse's  gotta  pay  her  fare,  or  eone  to  tiit 
statioo4iMttef  wrathfnlly  and  tactftdhr  renondcd 
the  man  called  Hunk.  Two  other  pfdwtrfaBis  had 
joined  the  messfngfr  boy  »d  the  goiy  aproiwd 
butdier,  and  already  stood  starmg  at  die  strumte, 


152 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


viewing  it  with  that  impassive  detaduneok 
to  the  metropolitan  qjectator  on  such  occasions.  YeC 
SaiMe  continued  to  ding  to  her  piUar  and  scream. 

-Aw,  hdir*  said  Hwik,  as  he  glanced  i^»prehen- 
sively  about  the  rain-swept  Aventie.  Then  he  sud- 
denly badted  away  toward  his  cab. 

•*Beat  it.  Chide  r  he  called  back.  "There  comes 
a  copr  And  Chide  proaapt\  did  as  Huric  sug- 
ge^ed. 

Sadie  Wimpel,  although  no  longer  exercising  her 
lungs,  still  kept  her  arms  wn^ped  about  the  box- 
pillar  as  the  patrolman  sauntered  i:q>.  Shtcftncaor 
tinned  to  ding  to  that  i»llar,  blindly,  perverse^,  at 
tiieoflker  stooped  and  made  an  effort  to  lift  her  to 
her  feet. 

show  tiiem  wise  bafaiesr  she  was  8obl»n^y 
annotmcing,  over  and  over  agadn.  The  patrolman 
had  her  on  her  feet  by  this  time.  He  suddenly 
stopped  and  turned  her  face  to  the  li^t  Then  die 
quietly  and  wearily  relaxed  on  the  broad  bosom 
^miglcd  with  metal  buttons.  For  it  was  the  same 
officer,  die  saw,  who  had  earlier  in  the  wedc  saved 
Ikt  from  the  over-«cak>us  plain-dothes  man  still  in 
il^mce  of  Washhigtow's  »de-rtreet  "plant" 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


153 


"What're  they  tryin'  to  do  to  you  this  time?"  he 
demanded  as  he  held  her  up. 

'Tiyin*  to  pinch  me  rd*  he  pantingly  re- 
sponded. 

**Whodidr 

TbemtaxMMndttsr 

The  officer  warded  the  accumulating  crowd  back 
with  the  flailing  end  of  his  night-stick. 

"Did  they  get  it?"  he  demanded  as  he  stared  up 
and  down  the  rahhiwqit  side-street  already  empty 
of  any  sign  of  a  taxicab.  Then  he  stooped  and 
pounded  oo  the  curbstone  with  his  night-stick.  "Did 
they  get  itr  he  repeated. 

"Not  on  your  Kfef*  returned  Sadie.  "I  poked 
it  into  this  mail  boxT 

Then  what  d'  you  want  me  for?"  asked  the  offi- 
cer, remenrt>eriiy  that  he  was  conferring  with  a 
federal  agent 

"Yuh  gotta  can  up  Hendry  and  'im  to  have 
Morgan  hurry  a  coi^le  o'  men  up  h«ire  to  this  boxl 
And  that  box's  gotta  be  watched  r 

The  officer  hentated. 

"What* •  the  matter  with  lettm'  the  collector  be 
teldn*  it  1^  08  his  mxt  round?" 


1 


154        JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAP 

•^Uectorrshrilkd  Sadie.  •*Ytih  gotta kwpMijr 
collector  from  imlockm'  that  box  tiU  Morgan  gets 
his  men  up  here,  or  your  job  won't  be  wort*  atradin*  . 

stamp  r 
"Why?" 

Sadie's  eye  met  the  slightly  skeptical  eye  of  the 
officer. 

"B'cause  there's  a  bunch  o'  stuff  in  under  that 
lid  wort'  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  or  yuh  kin 
put  me  in  the  nut-ward  up  at  BeUevueP' 

The  officer  replaced  his  i^li^hl-rtidc  The  federal 
authorities,  he  remewiwre^  Im4  a  way  of  moving 
darkly  and  by  means  of  myslerkwis  agents. 

"And  then  what  d'you  wnt  me  to  dof' 

**I  want  yuh  f  pass  me  ^roui^  Ais  ring  o'  pop- 
eyed  rubbernecks,"  Sadie  swd,  as  she  stared  wearily 
about  at  the  ever  deepening  drde  of  odookers,  "and 
then  git  something  in  brais  buttons  1^  to  Aat  house 
o'mine.  But  before  yiA  do  Aat  yuhH  khiffly  lead 
me  into  a  drum  where  I  kin  wrasde  wif  a  coi^ 
o*  broiled  Delmonicoes!  For  I'm  goin'  to  feed,  and 
feed  deep,"  she  grimly  arnxmneed.  "And  wh^s 
more,  I'm  g«Mn'  to  wash  it  down  wif  a  foil  quart 
o'fizrr 


CHAPTER  EIGHT, 


SADIE  WIMPEL      ttadjiiig  iier  to  k  tlw 

*yvk  ain't  looldn' m  rotten  UnaSifiA,  DudMM," 
she  rttmiMited  alotid,  as  she  poind  a  pbit  of  her 
freshly  marcelled  hair  into  place.  Then  she  lan- 
guidly proeceded  to  powder  her  nedt  and  sbooidcrB 
with  a  swan's-down  "sprsader,"  solemdy  8tudt)ring 
her  own  ixnafe  in  the  mirror  as  she  did  so. 

Then  a  smUe  broke  across  her  soher  yotmf  iMe, 

tof  in  the  doorway  behind  her  she  f^fgM  s^^  of 

V^nisna^  in  cfeniBK  <facei^  mkI  w^  a  tap^Mit  over 
his  arm. 

"Come  fair  she  sanf  ool  over  her  eefefawled 
shoulder,  for  her  hesita^visiler  had  shown  «vtf|^ 
nfn  of  yemdiing. 

**VU  wait,"  anmnwntd  the  ever  deeoroM 

nadL 

''Ain't  he  the  tii^  IMr  Saiht  dsBm^  of 
her  mirror,  as  she  gnt  a  finisUnf  tondi  to  her  Ike 
w^  ^tt  powder-folil^  Then  At  stood  and 

155 


156        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

turned  about,  shaking  out  her  skirt  and  niMsaging 
her  trim  waist-line  w  ith  outspread  thumb  and  fore- 
finger. "These  dinner  gowns  ain't  none  too  hany 
in  the  upper-works,  are  they?"  she  asked,  as  alie 
pinned  a  bunch  of  violets  to  her  corsage.  She  teoked 
wistfully  up  at  Wilsnach.  There  were  times  when 
he  seemed  to  touch  her  spirit  with  a  vague  and  un- 
defined sense  of  disappointment. 

•*How'd  I  look?"  she  courageously  demanded. 

"You  look  fine,  Sadie,"  acknowledged  Wibnack 
"But  Kestner  seems  disappointed  that  Keudell  got 
away  from  us." 

Sadie  sighed. 

"And  I  guess  Dorgan  ought  'o  get  a  medal  aa  a 
quarter-miler,"  she  indifferently  announced.  For 
Service  work  loomed  smaU  beside  the  thought  of 
her  first  Collet  creation  and  a  three-liour  dinner 
with  Wilsnach.  But  a  smaU  doud  diowed  ttadf 
in  the  sky  of  Sadie's  hopes. 

"I  wish  we  was  eatin'  alone,"  she  said  at  the 
reached  for  her  cloak. 

"Were  eating !"  corrected  the  other. 

"Were  eating,"  dutifully  repeated  the  girl. 

"But  it's  Andelman  of  the  Intelligence  Dq»art- 
ment  that  wt*Tt  going  to  dine  with.  And  I  imagine 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


157 


his  talk  is  going  to  help  straighten  out  this  Keudell 

case." 

Sadie  looked  up  at  him  out  of  wistfully  reprov- 
ing eyes. 

"It  was  nice  o'  yuh  to  send  me  them  fbwers — 
those  flowers,"  she  told  him. 

"You  deserved  them,"  Wilsnach  protested. 

For  the  second  time  Sadie  sighed. 

"And  I  sure  got  a  lot  out  o'  that  spiel  o'  yours  in 
the  art  gallery,"  she  went  on,  smiling  gratefully  as 
he  held  her  cloak  for  her. 

"We  can  get  there  oftener,  when  this  case  is 
over,"  explained  Wilsnach,  looking  at  his  watch. 

"I'm  ready,"  she  announced,  her  face  sobering  as 
she  noticed  his  movement.  And  she  remained  silent 
as  they  made  their  way  to  the  street  and  stepped 
into  the  waiting  taxicab.  She  was  perversely  quiet, 
too,  during  the  ride  to  the  carriage^trance  of  the 
huge  hotel  just  off  the  Avenue. 

"You  ought  to  enjoy  this  dinner,"  Wilsnach  told 
her,  as  they  made  their  way  through  the  carpeted 
corridors  to  the  chambre  separie  .where  Kestner 
was  awaiting  them. 

Still  again  her  wistful  eye  aou^^t  his  preoccupied 
face. 


158        7HE  DOOR  QF.  DREAD. 


mi 


1 

r 

"I  don't  expect  to/'  ihe  dedtred 
"Why  not?" 

*^'cause  business  is  butiiiess,  no  mitler  wliat 
frills  yuh  pin  on  it  I  And  I'd  rather  be  ettin'  akme 
wit'  yuh  in  a  forty-cent  red-ink  dtm^  than  dinia' 
on  terrapin  wit'  foreigners  T 

Wilsnach  was  robbed  of  the  necessity  of  replying 
to  this  somewhat  enibarrassiQf  oonlessioa,  nnoe  ^ 
door  of  their  seduded  dintntmm  had  been  tluowi} 
open  and  they  found  themnivta  ooolronted  bgr 
Kestner  and  another  man. 

This  second  man  stared  at  Sadie  Winq)d  witii  a 
glance  that  was  openly  antagonirtic. 

"Who  is  this  girir  he  promptly  and  somewhat 
belligerently  inquired. 

*Thts,"  said  Kettner  as  ht  watched  Swlie  flush 
up  to  the  little  runway  of  freckles  qaming  her  wdl- 

powdered  nose,  "is  Miss  Winpd." 

"And  who  is  Miss  Wimpeir 

1  can  best  describe  her,"  contniued  Kettner,  •§ 
he  eyed  the  official  so  newly  arrived  from  Washh^ 
ton,  "as  the  most  vahiafale  woman  afsnt  in  a&  the 
Service." 

"And  she  is  to  dine  with  us  to-night?"  tin 
ington  ravoy  nc»e  too  affably  iiiquired. 


THE  DOOK  pJb  DREAQ 


*Td  a  Iwaeli  tliit  Ind  wat  giM  lo  be  a  hmf* 

"Sfaioe  yott  art  hcwt  lliii  tnalag,"  Ktataer 
wai  loaTeijr  «|NBnia|f  nw  iiuiwiwr  oi  yoar  fMRt 
nuftf  oi  coaric,  aefMiia  on  jour  own  wttMir 


TIk  c<|ifd  ile^  of  Ktilncr*t  iirtiai^^ 

uaHMHHm  /WWIIIHUI  ID  nHB  ie||BIUUiy  lim  lOr  • 

Hwicnt  or  two  of  fhom^fai  i8raot>  Sa^a  ]ier> 
•df»  dt^Bf  ^  tabkaa,  liiniad  awajr  towaid  tlw 
•qnani  cfada  of  dlnaar  titihi,  Ska  ma  «»• 
Iwrnssed  Iqr  Ml  ^  open  Iwa^ty  of  Aadrinaa'a 
matuiir  and  by  the  niifiniMiiiiM  of  tfcat  CoMH 
mi  <  v'Hidi  WSiaaeh  toaaif  twd  penoadad  Imt 
into  njatedof.  So  iIk  ilaod  vkk  niefid  aid 
abstiacted  tgpce*  Har^  <fomx  af^  ^  ^tiumm  ol 
•ihcr  and  |^Hi»  at  tfaa  eentu:  ai  wUA  Hood  a  Yaee 
of  Ridimoiid  foa»teda  Ik^Mad  in  a 
wreatii  of  stidlK.  Ai^  to  cover  belii  Imt 
reMment  £nd  bar  iadlpHttioa  liie  d^banleijr : 
over  Hbt  taUe  and  m^kd       her  tieai^  ^midt 

iiMM  air  at  ^  perftnw  of  tiM  dMieiid  RjeteeadL 
Ttien,  looldog  '^'ver  hot  i>Ofifiing  AaiMtr  wkA 
fio^  AiMnan'a  eyei  it8l  iaii  m  Ctufer'a 


I 


100 


JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


face,  ahe  stooped  itm  cioMT  and  itiidied  that  dMl^ 
of  Hofttn  witli  qokk  and  weKMag  eyes. 

'^ut  we  were  to  dttcoM  mattert  of  a  waiewfast 
TOtriMffltW  natm"  protested  the  oAdat  from 
Washington.  "And  this  dhmer  was  arranged 
merdy  that  we  might  taBc  witiioist  intermpCioii  and 
withoitt  danger." 

"Miss  Win^  wifi  be  qdte  prepared  to  take  a 
part  in  that  discnssion,'*  Kcstner  cafanly  aunotmced. 
Sadie  was  standhig  now  with  her  hade  to  the  table 
and  was  coosdoas  of  the  fact  that  Andefanaa  had 
once  SKM>e  turned  toward  her.  His  |^anee»  she  saw, 
was  still  a  hostile  one. 

"Then  tiie  coSeagoe  you  spoke  of  as  Ronuno  is 
not  to  he  widi  nsr  the  ste^y-^  officer  iw|itired. 

"RornawH  I  regret  to  say/is  elsewhere  coMsd." 

Sadie  neidKT  heard  Kcstner^s  words  nor  was  she 
kmger  consewas  of  her  CoOtt  dhmer-gowa.  Site 
was,  in  fact,  straggihig  wi&  a  prcAlem  whidi 
seeaed  to  He  bqrofid  her  powers  of  comptthsnsinw, 
That  problem  had  arisen  from  a  discovery  whkh 
idle  had  made  quite  by  acddent  And  that  dis- 
covery had  been  made  as  she  kaned  over  the  Tsae  of 
Riehnaad roses efardedwhfcsi^ax.  Forcamdoi^ 
hnried  fai^  midst  of  those  innocait-lookhig  flowtrt 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


161 


lAvt  had  ctni^  of  a  small  metallic  disk  no 
Utfger  than  a  watch-case.  Yet  had  this  half-hidden 
^Mc  beat  a  coiled  and  glimmering  snake  it  could  not 
hive  ftartled  her  more.  She  had  seen  such  things 
belofc.  She  knew,  at  a  g^aan,  that  it  was  the 
annunciator  of  a  dicti^^hone. 

Yet  she  stood  watching  the  three  men  before  her 
with  a  foce  as  expressionless  as  a  mask.  So  ab- 
sorbed, indeed,  did  she  seem  in  her  own  thoughts 
tiiat  her  handkerchief  fdl  unnoticed  from  her  gloved 
fingers.  And  it  was  not  until  the  waiter  came  into 
die  room  that  Wilsnach  noticed  the  bit  of  hm  and 
linen  as  it  hy  at  her  feet.  Before  he  could  cross  to 
her  side  and  recover  it,  however,  she  herself  had 
bent  down  and  pkked  it  up.  But  that  brief  stoop 
had  given  her  a  moment's  visicm  of  two  small  silk- 
ooversd  wirss  nm^ng  from  the  center  of  the  table- 
bottom  to  1i»  rug  on  which  the  table  itself  stood. 

Sw  knew*  tfien,  that  there  could.be  no  mistake 
about  the  matter.  Sha  realized  that  a  plan  had  been 
perfected  whereby  every  wocd  of  tiieir  tiBc  eoold  ba 
overhMrd  and  recorded  by  some  unseen  and  un- 
known anchor.  Wherever  that  auditor  mit^t  be 
statkmed  at  the  far  end  of  those  small  Bhu><annA 
thrsads  of  metal*  he  stood  vtrtMiSfy  •  iRr  m  «vtfy 


162 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


wntenoe  that  might  be  uttered  at  their  table.  But 
the  problem  that  confronted  her  was  whether  that 
annunciator  had  beat  placed  there  by  Kcatatr  !■■»> 
•df,  or  by  &n  enemy  of  Kestner's. 

She  had  no  time  to  give  the  matter  further 
thought,  however,  for  the  three  men  were  already 
advancing  to  their  places.  And  Andelman,  with  hit 
cocktail  glass  in  his  hand,  was  smiling  across  the 
table  at  the  drooping-Udded  girl  in  the  dropping- 
bosomed  Collet  dinner-gown.  For  by  this  time 
Sadie  was  unmistakably  drooping-lidded.  One  of 
the  lessons  which  life  had  taught  her  was,  when  in 
dottbt,  to  asnmie  an  outward  mien  of  utter  meeknsss* 

"I  am  sorry,"  said  the  envoy  from  Waahii^^oa, 
"that  official  discretion  nadt  as  lor  ivw  •  taammt 
seem  inhospitable  1" 

Sadie  disliked  the  Ml,  ami  it  teak  •  nii^li  §at 
her  not  to  show  it 

"It  ain't  troubiin'  me,"  shs  i^ed,  as  Aa  timgmil 
at  the  shoulder-straps  of  her  gowa.  Then  As  s^ 
denly  remembered  Wilsnach's  stem  ■dmowitkn  m 
to  her  verbs.  So  for  the  second  time  liif  yasM 
vi^y  as  shs  imwids^  Im  mifff.  *^ltltimili^ 


THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


163 


"Thm  what  cm  I  pottflbfy  do  to  make  aiiimd»r' 
teqaired  Ae  ofctr,  ftdgf  her. 

She  Meed  calmly  and  dtiaetld^  ak  the  miling 
face,  nettled  bgr  tiie  fact  that  tim  was  more  than 
a  toadi  of  mockery  in  ka  smile.  Yet  ifae  henelf 
hmgM  •  fittk  •§  ahe  turned  tkoaft  t»  the  me  ol 
rotes  tint  stood  belMBB  then. 

«nrtih  e'd  aqpare  jommitr  ifae  quieUy  iii— ■  1. 

"I)9r  ktthi' me  pki »  Qoi^lie  ^  Asm  laeas  cMEae  aew 
ar inofypl^e  f 

Sie  WM  maiaUiiafag  i  hMpectie»o€  hotfi  Andel 
niaaaBdKeslan>aasheapeiK>  She waaatffi  watch- 
ing diem  at  she  promptly  leaned  fonaaO,  with  aa 
arm  oiititiitched»  woadei'mi^  from  iriii^  0t  Ike 
nics  Ae  s^ia^^f  hetn^nd  waa  to  ffnw, 

It  waa  AaMaaa  iHio  spoke.  He  apsis  Jiaipljr, 

whh  a  ipidi  a^ef  cemmaadia  widler  aaafasB 
toMITadfaw. 

"Mikmm';  hi  aaid,  "give      hid^r  two  «f 
Mllmd  i«»Mi^  fisaaer 

A0i  wMi  Alt  aaaaaaBd  iw  mystery  sleed  no 
felpv  a  mystery. 

Saltan  isf  •  voluptiioas  seoead  or  two,  sat  alBP- 
dewB  i§  A§  flaw  AQiddsr4engih  iN^iie  i^kyves 


164        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

of  whidi  die  was  to  inordiiiatel/ prowL  Then  hav- 
ing digested  her  victoiy,  ilie  kwked  i4»  at  Anddma^ 

Td  rather  {ndc  me  dKXMe,**  she  demitrred,  with 
one  rounded  arm  idll  ttretdied  languidly  out  across 
Aetabk.  Her  fingers  were  within  rix  indwt  of  the 
innocent-looking  yaie  before  the  waiter,  for  afl  his 
celerity  ^  movement,  eoald  interpose. 

''Ptodoo,  madaMs,"  he  mtmnttrcd  as  he  iiooped 
over  the  taMe.  Yst  as  he  did  so  he  crowded  2n  so 
dose  to  the  girl's  forwud^ient  body  that  she  was 
compelled  to  shrink  hack  kito  her  diair. 

"You  win  iiitf  A%lHMe's  taste  intproadiabie," 
said  AndehsM^  eooe  nore  aUe  to  snOe. 

Sadie  <yd  net  answer  him,  for  at  ^  moiuent  her 

aM  was  aeeapfed  with'the  cfafama  hi  fraot  of  her. 
Kestnci^  At  saw,  had  not  moved.  He  tau^  sat 

imrwinf  hor  with  a  casual  hidilforence  totidMd  w^ 
■nwwwwent  WSsnadi,  it  Is  tme,  feoked  ahent  him 
a  little  pozzled,  but  to  he  puialed  was  habitual  with 
the  interrogativc-sottled  mm  from  the  Paris  office. 

Andelman  was  tiM  man!  That  mudi  the  voice 
of  Sadie's  instmets  at  once  prodaimed  to  her.  It 
was  AaiitaHM  who  had  pronpdy  betrayed  the  ten- 
non  under  which  her  mttieuver  had  pkwed  him.  It 
W  Aiiidniin  who,  for  an  his  pose  of  au«-free 


ju£  ixxDR  of:  dreaq 


165 


gallantry,  pointedly  watched  the  deft-fingered  waiter 
as  the  latter  meagerly  broke  off  two  of  the  buds 
whidi  drooped  loosely  over  the  edge  of  the  vase. 
Sadie  then  knew  not  only  that  Andehnan  was  the 
man,  but  that  the  waiter  called  Alphonse  stood  not 
altogether  ignorant  of  the  situation.  The  fact  that 
he  had  chosen  two  bods  whidi  in  no  way  served  to 
screen  the  center  of  the  vase,  and  the  further  fact 
that  he  had  broken  tiwse  off  short  rather  than  with- 

» 

draw  their  stems  from  the  tangled  company  of  their 
felkmt,  confirmed  his  postti<m  as  an  accon^lice  of 
the  Washington  official  who,  for  some  unknown 
reason,  was  porkuig  against  the  interests  of  her 
diicf. 

'^tdi  nqr  be  long  on  taste,"  she  calmly  an- 
noi»ecd,  as  aiw  took  tiie  two  buds  from  the  waiter's 
fingen,       jfA'n  iottinly  short  on  stems  1" 

Is  raaduae  not  pleased  asked  ♦he  waiter. 
Tbcfe  was  idmost  a  diallenge  in  his  inquiry.  It  was 
Andeknm  hinseif  who  9p6kt  up  sharply. 

"A^lioiHe,  bring  the  oysters  I  And  also,  if  you 
please,  a  idolet-pki  for  the  ladyP 

KeHaer'i  hidolent  tyn  followed  the  waiter's  fig- 
ure as  he  departed.  Tben  the  secret  agent  turned 
NcktoUshoit 


166        THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


''Why  was  it  Bnkmhtr  taumAt  didn't  nm  cyver 
lor  thk  taOcr  Kettoer  cuuaBjr  inquired. 

"Bntliidier  mi  not  w  intimttdx  in  toiidi  with 
the  new  code  movcneatt  at  I  am  myidf.  Captain 

Otsrernade  that  dear,  I  thought,  hi  hit  talk  over  the 
tdephooe  with  jroo." 
i^stner  nodded. 

"How  long  have  you  been  doing  code  work  for 
the  Department  r  he  next  aiked.  Andehnan  tmikd 
attheqneitkja.  He  teemed  to  be  g^  of  the  chance 
of  talldng  again. 

"At  far  bade  at  the  war  with  Spain.  I  had  an 
undereecfetaryihr^  hi  Barodooa  at  ^  thne,  and 
devised  a  qrttem  of  keq^  oar  people  at  Paris  hi 
toodi  wHk  the  movemtata  of  the  eneny't  battle- 
th^  and  torpedo-boatt  nd  that  tort  of  thing. 
There  were,  at  you  may  rememba,  some  forty- 
foorof  themahcfedier.  I  adopted  the  two  Fiendi 
words  of  VcAnci' and  VffMlkff/ to  stand  for  teived* 
and  'departed,'  and  then  piepared  a  codete  of 
possOde  ports  where  these  boats  might  arrive  or  de- 
part I  did  this  by  givh«  eadi  the  name  of  some 
partkadar  ttodt  listed  on  tiie  Frendi  Exdange. 
Each  boi^  hi  torn,  was  iiprswiited  by  a  certidB 
Btmber,  to  when  I  whfed  Farit  to  btiy  or  teS  ao 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  IjS?: 

many  shares  of  such  and  such  a  stock,  it  meant  the 
arrival  or  departure  of  such  and  such  a  boat  from 
such  and  such  a  point." 

It  was  Sadie  who  spoke  next. 

"Yuh're  the  first  Navy  man  I  ever  heard  speak 
of  'em  as  boats!"  she  murmured  as  she  boked  up 
at  him  with  languidly  drooping  lashes. 

"I'm  sorry  to  give  offense!"  was  Andelraan's 
acidulated  retort.  But  the  languid-eyed  girl  made 
note  of  the  fact  that  the  dart  had  not  misied  its 
mark. 

"Oh,  it  ain't  offensive,"  she  lazily  acknowledged. 
"It's  only  funny!"  Then,  seeing  Wilsnach's  re- 
proving eye  on  her,  and  misjudging  the  cause  of  that 
critical  side-glance,  she  cried  in  hasty  amendment: 
"It  iwi'/ offensive!" 

"And  what  was  the  data  you  were  to  present  to 
me?"  inquired  Kestner,  as  he  squeezed  a  slice  of 
lemon  over  his  Blue  Points. 

Andelman  looked  at  him  for  a  silent  moment. 

"My  first  duty  was  to  learn  from  you  jtiet  .wbat 
progress  you  have  been  making." 

"Progress  in  what?" 

"In  tracing  out  the  different  leaks  from  onr  two 

Departments." 


168        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD. 


"Itit  WHsnadilierewlioisddiqrtlittiRrork.  I 
am  merely  a  lort  of  oveneer,  in  tlib  cate." 

"But  it  was  you  who  wired  in  tiia  laet  r^ort  to 
the  Waihington  anthorities.*' 

fwetmer  tRniea* 

"And  that  is  the  date  yott  widi?" 
"Yes.*' 

"But  why  lepeat  what  has  already  been  incor- 
porated in  my  official  reports?" 

If  there  was  a  sting  behind  his  words  the  man 
from  WasMngton  preferred  to  ignore  it  Sadit 
found  a  wayward  satisfaction  in  tiie  eottdttsioB  that 
the  two  men  wefe  not  destined  to  be  Idndred  souls. 
It  woiOd  make  her  tadc  tukr,  she  Uk,  when  her 
chance  should  come. 

"Bat,  don*tyoa  see,  Fvc  got  toknow  whafi  been 
done  bef<m  I  can  ontfrne  what  stifi  remte  to  ba 
done,"  paticndy  expounded  the  Washington  envoy* 
"And  yon  know  as  wdl  aa  I  do  Ihitt  tiie  ^tm^  la 
a  serious  one.** 

"It  is  even  more  serioni  tiian  yon  imaghM^" 
admowkdged  Keitner.  And  agate  Sa&'a  eyt 
sought  her  chiefs,  as  though  behind  that  cart  an- 
nouncement n^i^  lie  some  hidden  mcan^. 

"And  in  view  of  that  fact,"  Andefanan  €Qotim»d, 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  m 


"l  have  •  plan,  by  means  of  which,  provided  we  can 
work  harmoniously  together,  we  can  surely  round 
aU  of  this  stolen  data.  But  unless  we  work  to- 
fethcr  I  think  there's  small  chance  of  either  your 
plan  Of  mine  succeeding.  So  the  sooner  we  get 
down  to  hard-pan,  the  better!" 

Keitner,  in  spite  of  the  persistently  patient  tone 
of  Andefanan's  talk,  betrayed  no  immediate  inten- 
twn  of  fetting  down  to  hard-pan.  And  Sadie,  to 
her  Mcret  relief,  began  to  realize  that  her  chief  was 
more  let  on  acquiring  information  than  on  divulc- 
iogft. 

**Biit  in  ft  cMt  Iflce  this  you  never  do  get  down  to 
iMtl-pan,"  Keitner  was  parrying,  "until  you  make 
your  haul  And  we  haven't  yet  made  our  haul." 

TlicWy,"  agreed  his  host.  "But  what  I  must 
know  ii  what  etcpe  have  been  taken  toward  that 

KMtner'e  glance  was  a  distinctly  combative  one. 

"Am  I  to  understand  that  the  Washington  author- 
Wti  are  qaettioning  our  method  of  procedure?" 

Wflmach,  at  this  tartly-put  interrogation,  looked 
•bo*  with  mild  surprise  at  his  chief.  The  Utter, 
WiBMch  inwardly  remarked,  seemed  less  stable  and 
1m  «fbaae  than  usual  For  once  be  aeemad  to  Im 


170       THE  OCXHl  PP  DREAD 


lost  control  of  his  nerves.  Even  Sadie  Wimpel  sat 
a  Htfle  '^wildcred  by  Kestner's  tin  wonted  acerbity. 
Yet  she  watched  him  quietly,  from  under  studiously 
veiled  eyes,  wondering  what  his  game  could  possibly 
be,  and  just  when  her  chance  for  a  word  of  warning 
to  him  would  come. 

"Of  course  your  methods  are  not  under  question," 
the  smiling  Andelman  was  saying.  "But  before  the 
two  of  us  can  cooperate  in  this  thing  we  must  each 
know  where  the  other  stands.*' 

Kestncr  did  not  seem  di  -  oscd  to  deny  this.  He 
merely  became  more  earnest. 

"Then  where  do  you  stand  with  regard  to  the 
theft  of  what  they're  calling  the  Wheel  Code?"  he 
asked. 

Andelman  hesitated,  with  his  glance  resting  ques- 
tioningly  on  Wilsnach  and  the  woman  at  his  side. 

"You  can  talk  as  freely  before  these  two  as  you 
can  before  me,"  announced  Kestner.  "But,  in  the 
first  place,  what  the  devil  is  the  Wheel  Code?" 

Andelman  smiled  with  patience  if  not  altogetim 
jv  ith  pleasure. 

"Since  your  hesitation  seems  to  hinge  on  some 
doubt  as  to  my  knowledge  of  official  affairs,  I'll  be 
very  glad  to  explain  a  code  which,  as  you  probaUy 


jm  DOOR  OP  DRBAD 


in 


know,  is  used  by  both  the  Navy  and  the  Army.  The 
device  itself  merely  depends  on  the  use  of  two  disks, 
on  the  same  center.  There's  a  series  of  numbers  on 
one;  on  the  other  an  arrangement  of  letters  and 
certain  codified  service-words.  Now,  once  a  key- 
relation  is  determined  on,  the  sender  picks  out  his 
message,  and  the  receiver,  placing  his  disks  according 
to  the  predetermined  key-relation,  reads  this  other- 
wise undecipherable  message  without  any  great 
trouble.  What  made  the  loss  of  this  code  of  ours 
especially  costly,  however,  was  that  the  'filler*  or 
•blind'  words  incorporated  in  the  cipher— very  much 
after  the  fashion  of  the  duck  that  barked  like  a  dog, 
in  the  old  conundrum— took  months  and  months  of 
hard  work  for  the  two  Departments  to  work  out." 

•^ut  what  was  the  use  of  these  blind  words,  as 
you  call  them,  in  a  code  like  that  ?"  asked  Wilsnach. 

•Merely  to  insure  secrecy  I  These  fillers  are  put 
in  as  a  stumbling-block,  for  the  code-expert  of  the 
tnenqr  to  bark  his  shins  on.  For,  once  your  enemy 
has  messages  enough  to  work  with,  he  can  event- 
ually decipher  any  code  ever  devised  by  human  in- 
tdUgence." 

"Now  we  do  seem  to  be  getting  down  to  hard- 
pan,"  Kestner  suddenly  exclaimed.  "You  say  th|s 


Mictocopr  RnotunoN  tbt  omit 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHAUT  No.  2) 


^    /APPLIED  IIVU1GE  Ine 

1653  East  Mam  Street 
^£      Rochester,  Ne»  York      14609  USA 
^5      (715)  482  -  0300  - PhonT^ 

(7'6)  288  -  5989  -  Fox 


i 


172        THE  DOOR  OF!  DREAD! 

Japanese  ofiicer  has  possession  of  our  Wheel 

Code—" 

"I  have  said  no  such  thing,"  cut  in  Andehnan, 
with  his  slightly  puzzled  tyts  on  the  other  man's 
face. 

"But  the  Dq>artment  has  just  said  so"  maintained 
Kestner. 

Sadie,  realizing  that  her  chief  had  at  last  com- 
mitted himself  to  a  positive  statement,  endeavored 
to  kick  at  his  shins  under  the  table.  But  he  was  be- 
3rond  her  reach.  Wilsnach,  wincing  visiUy,  stopped 
eating  to  stare  at  her  in  silent  reproach. 

Andelman,  for  the  fraction  of  a  second,  seemed 
to  be  at  sea.    But  before  he  could  speak  again 
Kestner  was  facing  him  with 
more  marked  than  before. 

"My  own  belief  is  that  Washington  is  taking  an 
exaggerated  view  of  this  whole  situation.  There's 
been  a  leak  or  two,  but  that  is  no  excuse  for  gettii^ 
hysterical  over  it.  And  if  this  Japanese  officer 
boasted  that  he  had  our  Silberton  Gxie,  I  dcm't 
even  believe  he's  stolen  it.  You  know  as  well  as  I 
do  that  the  Japanese  arc  the  trickiest  code-makers 
on  earth.  This  code  expert  of  theirs  probal^y  got 
hold  of  a  number  of  our  inessages,  months  or  even 


THE  POOR  of:  PREAQ 


173 


years  old.  Then,  working  them  ouiE  on  lines  of 
classification,  and  resorting  to  a  few  imaginative 
guesses,  he  stumbled  on  the  key  to  the  whole  thing!" 

Andelman  sat  in  thoughtful  silence,  at  the  end  of 
this  speech.  Kestner  waited  for  several  moment: 
then  he  swung  unctuously  back  to  his  theme. 

"Any  code  can  be  worked  out  in  that  vny. 
There  isn't  a  cipher-code  in  the  Service,  land  or  sea, 
that  isn't  vulnerable  to  the  expert,  once  he  has  time 
enough  and  reason  enough  for  working  it  out" 

Andelman's  slowly  awakening  smile  was  erne  of 
patient  forbearance. 

"You  are  altogether  wrong.  How  could  a 
foreigner,  for  example,  derive  any  earthly  good 
from  a  knowledge  of  the  Navy  Department's  new 
wireless  Clock  Code?" 

"Why  not?"  asked  Kestner. 

"Because  the  significance  of  every  cipher  depends 
not  only  on  the  hour  of  the  day,  but  on  the  minule 
of  that  hour,  at  which  it  is  despatched,  yhe  same 
message,  I  mean,  sent  at  twenty  different  times  dur- 
ing the  day  may  mean  twenty  entirely  different 
things.  And  the  chnuionietrical  determination  ol 
each  cipher  value,  again,  is  protected  by  our  adiqptft- 
tion  of  the  Hovland  Keyboard  Qpherr-^rOll^r• 


174        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


doubtless  heard  our  Navy  officers  speak  of  it  as  the 

Keyboard." 

"Why  the  Keyboard  Cipher?"  asked  Wilsnach. 

"Because  the  transmitting  machine — for  wireless, 
of  course, — is  a  good  deal  like  an  ordinary  t3rpe- 
writer,  with  keys  to  close  a  certain  number  of  'con- 
tacts' for  each  letter.  But  the  cipher-language  is 
produced  by  first  switching  the  letter-keys,  the  same 
as  a  mischievous  boy  might  do  on  a  typewriter — 
mixing  'em  up  in  a  hopeless  mess.  The  receiving 
operator,  of  course,  works  with  a  keyboard  cor- 
respondingly switched  and  at  the  same  time  com- 
bined about  the  same  as  the  numeral  sequence  of  a 
safe-lock.  In  wireless,  of  course,  this  shuts  out  the 
outsider.  It  stops  eavesdropping.  Since  the  de- 
codification  is  done  automatically,  and  printed  on 
the  tape  of  the  receiving  apparatus,  it  does  no  good 
for  the  outsider  to  try  to  tune  in!"  Andelman 
laughed  as  he  took  a  sip  of  wine.  "Soimds  pretty 
complicated,  doesn't  it  ?  But  it's  about  two  hundred 
times  more  complicated  than  I  could  ever  make  it 
sound,  for  it's  just  by  its  infinite  complicatedness 
that  it  is  made  secret." 

Kestner,  who  seemed  deep  in  thought,  did  not 
comment  on  this  statement. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAQ  175 

"But  I  thought  our  Bobine  Whisperer  had  super- 
seded all  that?"  he  finally  ventured.  And  Sadie, 
watching  from  the  other  side  of  the  table,  felt  sure 
that  she  saw  a  secret  eye-flash  pass  some  secret 
message  between  Andelman  and  the  waiter  called 
Alphonse,  as  the  latter  lifted  away  the  empty  oyster- 
plates. 

"Why  should  the  Bobine  Whisperer  supersede 
the  Hovland  adaptation  ?"  inquired  Andelman,  with 
his  eyes  on  Kestner's  impassive  face. 

"Because  both  Scrivi.  r  and  Oliver  have  acknowl- 
edged its  superiority."  Kestner  looked  up  at  Andel- 
man with  sudden  surprise  on  his  face.  "You  knew 
it  was  the  Bobine  Wliisperer  specifications  wHich 
were  stolen,  didn't  you?" 

It  was  a  direct  interrogation,  but  Andelman  did 
not  directly  reply  to  it.  For  just  a  moment  his  eyes 
rested  absently  on  the  vase  of  Richmond  roses. 
Then  he  turned  smilingly  to  Sadie  Win^  and 
Wilsnach. 

"Perhaps  our  friends  here  would  like  you  to  give 
them  a  description  of  this  mysterious  Whisperer," 
he  finally  ventured. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  Sadie  turned  to  Wilsnach 
with  the  carelessly  put  command :  "Ginune  a  card 


176        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


and  pencil  I  For  we  had  a  code  at  the  Convent  that 

used  to  stump  *em  ev'ry  time  I" 

Then  straight  down  the  card,  Chinese  style,  she 
smilingly  penciled  tiae  words :  "Roses  have  tin  ears!" 

She  smiled  again  as  she  looked  down  at  her  min- 
utely inscribed  column.  She  was  still  smiling  as 
she  passed  it  over  to  Kestner,  who  for  a  moment 
hesitated  abcat  taking  it. 

He  glanced  at  the  card  for  only  a  second  or  two. 
Then  shook  his  head  with  disapproval. 

"Sadie,  that's  indecent!"  he  angrily  announced, 
as  he  proceeded  to  tear  the  card  into  shreds,  and 
having  tossed  these  pieces  contemptuously  toward 
the  center  of  the  table,  he  turned  deliberately  away 
from  her,  once  more  facing  Andelman.  "We're 
here  to  discuss  Service  business,  and  not  make 
jokes !" 

For  the  third  time  that  evening  a  flush  mantled 
Sadie's  sophisticated  young  face.  Andelman  noted 
it,  and  not  without  approval.  For  a  moment,  too, 
his  hungry  eyes  rested  on  the  scattered  fragments 
of  pasteboard.  It  was  the  waiter,  who,  having  care- 
fully placed  plates  before  each  of  the  guests,  turned 
to  remove  the  litter  of  paper-ends  from  the  taMc- 
doth. 


THE  TOOK  OF  DREAD 


177 


Sadie  promptly  defeated  this  end  by  insolently 
and  half-angrily  blowing  the  card-fragments  back 
into  Kestner's  lap.  He  ignored  the  maneuver,  for 
his  mind  seemed  set  on  more  serious  things.  He 
even  frowned  a  little  when  the  bland-eyed  Wilsnach 
broke  in  with  one  of  his  ^iparently  iminsptred  iiH 
,terrogatijns. 

"But  just  what  is  the  Bobine  WTiisperer?"  the 
methodic-minded  man  from  the  Paris  office  was  ai- 
quiring. 

Andelman,  for  some  unknown  reascm,  permitted 
the  ghost  of  a  smile  to  flit  for  a  moment  about  his 
Ifps.  Then  he  leaned  patiently  back  in  his  diair  as 
Kestner  began  to  speak. 

"Since  we're  aU  united  in  the  task  of  kee|nng  this 
Bobine  Whisperer  secret  from  getting  out  of  Amer* 
ica,"  began  Kestner,  "it  won't  be  a  loss  of  time  to 
try  to  give  you  an  mkling  of  what  it  is.  But  ^ease 
correct  me,"  he  added,  as  he  again  turned  smi&igfy 
toward  Andelman,  "if  I  make  miftalffs.  The  Bo- 
vine Whisperer  is  our  improvement  on  the  Bdlini 
and  Tosi  rectangular  aerial  device  for  wifeless. 
.That  is  to  say,  two  aerials  at  right  ang^  afe  so 
attached  to  both  soidii^^  toad  teoeiv^  apparatta  as 
to  permit  of  the  tfansBMStea  of  unequal  currarts. 


17S        .THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


By  a  simple  enough  law  of  mechanics  which  I 
needn't  go  into  here,  these  tv/o  electro-magnetic 
forces  are  made  to  unite,  not  unlike  a  fireman's 
water  screen  made  by  the  interjection  of  two  hose 
streams.  The  Hertziri  waves  are  projected  in  a 
single  vertical  plane  .able  of  being  instantly  al- 
ternated by  the  Bc^aie  device,  and  because  of  the 
fact  that  this  apparatus  can  transmit  messages  a 
hundred  miles  without  their  waves  being  perceptible 
to  intervening  operators,  it  has  *  «n  called  the 
Whisperer." 

"Exactly— the  Whisperer  1"  said  Andelman. 

"It  gives  an  admiral  a  diance  for  absolutely  se- 
cret communication  between  his  diflFerent  units/' 
pursued  Kestner.  "It  also  puts  a  stop  to  the  danger 
of  'jamming,'  which  helped  the  Germans  out  in 
tiieir  South  Pacific  fight  with  the  British,  as  it  did 
tiie  Russians  when  they  had  the  Austrians  shut 
up  in  Przemysl.  But  it  does  still  more  than  this. 
It  makes  possible  the  determination  by  triangulation 
of  the  position  of  any  foreign  operator  whose  mes- 
sages have  been  intercepted.  This  means  it  can  de- 
cipher the  position,  and  also  the  speed,  of  any  hostile 
ship,  or,  for  that  matter,  any  hostile  squadron,  once 
its  sending-zone  has  been  invaded.  And  what  that 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAP 


179 


means  to  a  foreign  power  has  been  very  well  in- 
stanced 1^  the  fact  that  the  specifications  for  this 
device  are  among  those  stolen  by  our  same  Orio^ 
friend  who  got  the  new  eubniBriiie  and  the  mm 
coast-gun  plans  1" 

It  was  Sadie  Wimpel  who  looked  up  sharply  at 
Kestner's  last  words.  Through  his  welter  of  wire- 
less technicalities  her  untutored  naad  had  «rt<ight 
no  feeblest  ray  of  light.  She  was  not  ignorant, 
however,  of  who  had  got  hot'  the  submariM  and 
the  coast-gun  plant.  And  she  .  .new  k  wat  not  an 
Oriental. 

It  dawned  on  her,  suddenly,  that  Kestner  was  not 
telling  the  truth,  that  he  was  deliberately  and  ^udi« 
ously  lying  to  the  thou|^ful-faced  envoy  Irmi 
Washington.  But  his  reason  for  doiflf  ao  waa 
something  more  than  she  could  fathom* 

"Then  this  Oriental  is  the  nttn  yn  wmt  maai 
up?"  Andelman  was  aiddng. 

"Wouldn't  that  be  your  suggestion?"  ptmd 
Kestner,  with  his  gaze  fixed  on  the  other  man. 

The  other  man  shrugged  a  non-committal  shoul- 
der. He  seemed  undecided  as  to  his  stand.  And 
from  his  very  indecisiveness  Kestner  iq^ftcared  to 
derive  a  discreet  yet  defeite  s^faction. 


180 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAEI 


None  of  this  satisfaction,  however,  imparted  it- 
self to  the  restless-minded  Sadie.  Her  chief,  for 
once  in  his  life,  seemed  obtuse.  He  had  scoffed 
at  her  warning.  And  now,  speech  by  speech,  he 
was  not  only  handing  his  secrets  out  to  a  man  who 
had  no  right  to  them,  but  was  also  tossing  the  most 
sacred  information  of  the  Service  into  a  metal  ear 
hidden  amid  a  cluster  of  roses  not  three  feet  away 
from  him.  And  the  thing  could  not  go  on. 

Sadie  fotmd  it  l.ard  to  hit  on  a  feasible  plan  of 
action.  The  best  she  could  do,  she  finally  decided, 
would  be  to  slip  away  to  the  hotel  office,  on  the 
pretext  of  telephoning,  and  there  write  out  a  sec- 
ond message  of  warning  to  Kestner.  This  coula 
be  done  on  a  telegrapli  blank,  and  after  her  return 
to  the  table  a  page  could  deliver  the  message.  In 
that  way,  she  felt,  Kestner  could  receive  it  without 
unduly  arousing  Andelman's  suspicions.  And  then 
he  would  be  free  to  act  as  he  saw  fit 

Sadie  finally  decided  to  put  this  plan  into  execu- 
tion. She  saw  that  it  would  be  best,  however,  to 
leave  the  table  when  the  waiter  himself  was  engaged 
at  its  side.  She  did  not  care  to  be  followed.  So 
as  the  talk  went  on  she  impatiently  awaited  the  re- 
turn of  that  discreet-eyed  functionaiy. 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAQ 


181 


Yet  it  was  thif  waiter  himself,  when  lie  stepped 
bade  into  the  room,  who  made  the  first  move.  He 
somewhat  bmskly  interrupted  Andelmaa's  talk  with 
tlw  amiouncement  that  there  was  a  Umf-dtstanoe 
call  awaiting  him  at  the  office.  And  this  wakor, 
Sadie  noticed,  was  not  so  inward^  cahn  as  his  otit> 
ward  appearance  might  indicate. 

"Find  who  is  calling  f  commanded  Anddmaa, 
with  a  distbct  note  of  amwyance.  Then  he  turned 
to  Kestner  again,  repeating  an  inqimy  if  it  could 
be  true  that  the  new  Am^  satchel-wirdesa  de^;ns» 
based  on  the  ''Whisker  Wifdess"  of  the  Freadi  In- 
telligence Corps,  had  been  among  the  secrets  so  wa^ 
teriously  and  so  ingenioiidy  stden  from  Headqnaiw 
ters.  Then  he  stopped  talking,  for  the  waiter 
more  stood  close  behind  him.  This  servai^s  &ce, 
Sadie  now  noticed,  was  moist  with  a  faint  dewing 
of  sweat-drops. 

"It  is  Washington,  sir,  that  wants  youf*  he  an- 
nounced. 

"But  who?"  irritaUy  demanded  Andehnan. 
"I  think  they  said  the  Navy  Department,  sirr 
Andeltnan's  manner  dianged. 
"Then  you'll  excuse  me  for  a  rahmte  or  two?" 
he  gradoosl^  inq^Oored,  as     rose  from  h»  chair. 


182        THE  DOOR  OF)  DREAP 


And  Kestner  watched  him  in  silence  until  he  left 
the  room.  It  was  not  until  the  waiter  followed, 
carrying  away  a  trayful  of  empty  dishes,  that  Sadie 
•poke  up. 

"That  man's  a  fake,"  she  promptly  announced. 

It  was  Wilsnach,  still  watching  the  door,  who 
made  a  sudden  hissing  sound  for  silence. 

"Why  do  you  say  that?"  Kestner  quietly  inquired. 

"B'cause  I  know  it,"  was  her  quick  retort. 

"I  am  equally  aware  of  the  fact,"  was  Kestner's 
even-toned  reply. 

Wilsnach  paused  in  the  act  of  lighting  a  cigarette 
to  stare  at  his  chief. 

"How  do  you  know  it?"  he  demanded. 

"For  the  last  two  days  I  find  my  private  telephone 
wire  has  been  tapped.  My  steps  have  been  dogged, 
and  a  decoy  message  yrhich  I  sent  out  was  inter- 
cepted. Such  incidents,  naturally,  point  only  to  one 
thing  r 

"But  why  couldn't  we  have  been  given  a  tip?" 
demanded  Wilsnach. 

"I  wanted  to  be  sure  of  my  ground.  And  it  was 
only  an  hour  before  sitting  down  to  this  table  I 
verified  my  suspicion  that  Andelman  was  in  no  way 
oflficially  connected  with  any  Washington  depart- 


THE  DOOR  OP  DREAD 


183 


ment.  I  have  just  further  verified  it  by  the  mttter 
of  the  Bobine  mispercr.  While  I  have  given  not 
a  little  of  my  time  and  thought  to  the  working  oat 
of  such  a  device,  there  is,  at  prcMOt,  mo  Mch  tMiig 

in  existence!" 

"And  that  ain't  all  I"  announced  Sadie. 

"What  else?"  asked  the  indifferent-eyed  Kettner. 

"As  T  tried  to  tell  yuh  b'fore,  the  gu/a  gotta 
dictaphone  planted  in  that  bunch  o'  roeet  thmT 

"He's  got  a—" 

Kestner,  instead  of  re-echoing  the  rest  of  that 
sentence,  suddenly  sprang  to  his  feet  He  leaned 
over  the  table,  pushed  back  the  looee  dafle»«l  ^arie 
crimson  buds,  stared  there  for  a  aeeood  or  tw&aad 
then  sat  down  again. 

"So  that's  his  game!"  he  ejac  uted.  Then  he- 
fore  either  Wilsnach  or  Sadie  cookl  ipeak,  he  waa 
on  his  feet  again. 

"Quick !"  he  criea  to  Wilsnach,  as  he  leaned  over 
the  vase  and  with  one  fierce  jerk  freed  tiie 
ciator  from  its  wires.   "They've  heard  evety  wo«l 
we've  been  saying!  Get  the  waiter!  Go  r^  to 
the  kitchen  if  you  have  tol" 

"Couldn't  it  be  dooc  more  quietly,  as  he  comet 
back,  and—" 


184        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


''G>nMs  back?  He  won't  be  bade  here  any  mart 
than  Andetman  will !  Hurry,  man,  hurry,  or  they'll 
be  away  before  we  can  get  to  the  doors  f 

Kestner,  who  had  pushed  the  annunciator  into  his 
podcet,  was  already  half-way  across  the  room. 

"And  what 'm  I  to  do?"  demanded  the  indignant- 
eyed  Sadie.  She  had  small  relish  for  being  thus 
elbowed  out  of  a  movement  in  whidi  she  should 
have  been  the  chief  factor. 

"Anything  you  like,"  was  Kestmr's  abstracted 
message  as  he  disappeared  frcmi  sig^t.  Wilmadi 
was  rounding  the  table  to  follow  him.  But  Sadie, 
knowing  what  she  knew,  cau^t  him  firmly  by  the 
sleeve  of  his  coat 

"Yuh  just  wait  a  minute  f  she  comnmnded. 
*'Who's  that  Oriental  guy  the  diief  s  been  talkin' 
about?" 

V^^laoach  tried  to  shate  her  off. 
"Idon'tknowr 

"IMd  he  ever  txXi  yuh  he  knew  a  Jap  had  got 
those  plans?" 

"No,"  said  the  tugging  WUsnach.  "Three  hours . 
ago  ht  said  everything  pointed  to  oat  man  and  only 
mt  manP' 

"Wait!  Whatmanr 


THE  DOOR  of:  BREAQ 


185 


"Wallaby  Sam!" 

Sadie  at  once  released  the  bewildered  and  still 
struggling  Wilsnach. 

"Then  where's  your  Wallaby  Sam?"  she  called 
after  him,  remembering  what  Dorgan  had  already 
told  her. 

"That's  what  we'd  give  our  eye  teeth  to  know!" 
was  Wilsnach's  answer  as  he  slipped  out  through 
the  door. 

Sadie  looked  after  his  disappearing  figure.  Then 
she  gathered  up  her  wraps,  powdered  her  nose  and 
quietly  but  resolutely  proceeded  down  to  the  ro- 
tunda of  the  big  hotel.  From  there,  perceiving 
neither  Andelman  nor  Wilsnach  nor  Kestner,  she 
strolled  on  to  the  starter's  office,  at  the  carriafe 
entrance,  and  called  for  a  taxicab. 

"Where  to?"  was  the  question  put  to  her. 

For  one  moment  she  hesitated.  Then  the  said 
with  determination :  "Hotel  AlsajMal" 


CHAPTER  NINE 


SADIE  WIMPEL  nursed  no  great  love  for 
head  waiters.  She  had,  in  the  past,  too  often 
clashed  with  these  mysterious  embodiments  of  in- 
terlocking authority  and  subserviency.  Yet  after 
her  interview  with  the  head  waiter  of  the  Alsatia, 
the  same  being  both  brief  and  persuasive,  she  sat 
in  the  pink-lighted  room  of  serried  tables  and  near- 
onyx  and  plate  mirrors,  sedately  sipping  her  second 
cup  of  black  coffee. 

She  would  have  much  preferred  a  gin  rickey. 
But  seeing  matters  .of  moment  before  her,  she  de- 
cided to  keep  a  clear  head  and  a  cool  hand.  For, 
over  the  rim  of  her  cup  as  she  drank,  she  could 
distinctly  see  at  a  table  not  more  than  the  toss  of 
an  oyster  cracker  from  her,  a  rotimd  and  somewhat 
familiar  figure  in  full  evening  dress. 

About  this  rubicund  figure,  seated  in  solitary  state 
at  his  small  rose-shaded  table,  there  was  still  some- 
thing both  inalienably  blithe  and  disarmingly  incon- 
sequential. Had  the  serviette  tucked  up  imder  his 
many-terraced  chin  been  red  instead  of  white  he 

186 


THB  POOR  Oir  dread;  |87 


would  have  suggested  a  weather-beaten  but  still 
light-hearted  old  robin.  There  was  something  perkily 
ingenuous  and  bird-like  in  the  very  movements  of 
this  portly  diner  as  he  lifted  a  chafing-dish  cover 
and  peered  interrogatively  into  what  appeared  to  be 
a  generous  portion  of  chicken  a  la  King. 

Sadie,  as  she  sat  gazing  at  this  rotund  voluptuary 
so  engrossingly  immured  in  his  ventral  delights,  de- 
cided that  Wallaby  Sam  made  an  ideal  figure  for 
the  work  of  a  foreign  agent.  His  blitheness  of 
aspect  was  in  itself  a  discourager  of  suspicion.  His 
beaming  blandness  of  eye  anid  his  rosiness  of  cheek 
gave  him  an  outward  semblance  of  care-free  inno- 
cence in  no  way  suggestive  of  the  international 
intrigant  And  Sadie  further  realized  that  if 
Wallaby  Sam  had  seen  her,  be  was  now  bent  on 
ignoring  her. 

So  at  the  moment  that  he  was  engaged  in  prod- 
ding critically  into  the  depths  of  his  steaming  chaf- 
ing-dish Sadie  took  the  bull  by  the  horns.  She  rose 
from  her  chair,  gathered  up  her  possessions  and 
moved  forward  until  she  came  to  the  table  of  the 
fat  man  so  engrossed  in  his  collation. 

The  fat  man  in  question  did  nof  even  lode  up 
as  tfie  xoung  lad^  with  the  deboQair  ^booe  «M 


188        7HE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


the  tip-tilted  nose  sank  into  a  seat  opposite  him. 
As  before,  all  his  attention  seemed  centered  on  the 
viands  before  him. 

"Ain't  it  crool,  the  way  most  men'U  furget  a  soul- 
mate  ?"  murmured  Sadie. 

Wallaby  Sam  reached  for  his  glass  of  Chablis, 
took  a  sip  from  it  and  put  it  down  on  the  table 
again.  Then  he  looked  up  at  Sadie,  blinking  at  her 
with  impassive  and  only  mildly  querulous  eyes. 
Then  he  gave  all  his  attention  to  the  plate  beside 
him. 

"And  me  tryin'  to  ketch  your  eye  for  the  last 
half-liour!"  lamented  the  slighted  Sadie. 

"So  I  noticed^"  the  blithe  old  robin  calmly  an- 
nounced. 

This,  for  a  moment,  seemed  to  dampen  the  ef- 
fusive young  lady's  ardor»  But  it  was  only  for  a 
moment. 

"What's  the  reason  for:  the  frost?"  sl^  deter- 
minedly inquired. 

"I  don't  get  bit  twice  by  the  same  snake !"  quietly 
averred  the  rosy-cheeked  old  gentleman,  as  he 
stabbed  his  heart  of  lettuce  to  the  core.  Thai  he 
cut  it,  crisscross,  with  much  vigor. 

"I  guess  I'm  the  party  that's  gotta  kidc  comin' 


THE  DOOR  OI^  DREAD 


189 


for  that  old  rumble,"  maintained  the  girL  But  Wal- 
laby Sam,  alias  Adoli^  Breitmrn,  chose  to  ignore 
her  complaint.  It  was  semal  minutes,  in  faO,  be- 
fore he  spoke  again. 

"What,  I  mean  who,  are  you  tloing  these  d^i  • " 
he  grimly  inquired. 

"I  ain't  feedin'  no  goldfish  1"  quite  as  grim'^  ic- 
torted  Sadie,  and  that  reference  to  the  old  days 
tended  to  make  the  man  opposite  her  wince  a  trifle. 
"But  for  a  couple  o'  months.  Baron,  I  was  eatin* 
wheat-cakes  wit'  the  down-and-outers.  And  yuh 
was  the  party  that  put  me  there  1" 

Wallaby  Sam  glanced  afipredatively  over  ber  re- 
splendent attire. 

"You  seem  to  have  emerged  from  the  »^erieiioe 
without  material  loss,"  he  renund'^  her. 

Sadie  was  able  to  mtoter  vp  tlie  Sfmblince  of  a 
contented  little  laugh. 
"Oh,  I'm  workin'  a  new  line  nowadays  P" 
"What  line?"  casually  inquired  the  diner. 
"Cuttin'  keys!"  was  the  laconic  rqjy. 
Wallaby  Sam  finished  up  his  creamed  dudeea  be- 
fore speaking  again. 

"And  what  do  you  make  out  of  cnttiiig  kcyi?^ 
he  finally  inquired. 


190 


JHE  DOOR  of:  dread 


"I  make  a  hanl  o'  loose  joolry  now  and  thenT 
Sadie  reddesdyadcnowledged.  "And  now  and  then 
I  get  sumpin  wwUi  more'n  joolry  f 

"Stidi  as?"  Inquired  her  companion. 

"Ytth  see,''  expUuned  Sadie,  "I  hit  one  o'  tte 
best  hoteb,  rent  a  room  for  a  day  and  get  a  key. 
But  b'fore  I  give  up  me  room  I  beat  it  ever  to  me 
own  little  joint,  cut  a  dooplicate  o'  that  hotel  key 
and  hand  in  the  orig'naL  Then  I  blow  '*p  from  the 
Palm  Room  or  the  Fox  Trottery  when  the  next 
party  is  out,  and  fine  'em  a  bundi  o'  ihinestones  for 
not  keepm'  their  joob  under  cover  H' 

"And  I  assume  you  are  wotking  this  hotd  at  this 
particuhr  nxnnent?" 

Sadie  smiled. 

"Oh,  I  slipped  into  four  twenty-seven  jus'  for 
the  sake  of  old  times,"  she  audaciously  announced. 
.Wallaby  Sam,  with  knife  and  foric  poised  upright, 
sat  studying  her  serene-eyed  young  face.  For  she 
had  taken  Ihit  trotd)le,  before  approadiing  him,  to 
ascertain  from  the  office  tiie  exact  number  of  Breit- 
man's  quarters  in  the  Alsatia. 

"So  you  were  in  four  twenty-seven  ?"  he  medita- 
tively repeated. 


THE  DOOK       DREAQ  191 

"That  gimme  the  nerve  to  swing  down  here," 
she  pregnantly  acknowledged. 

Wallaby  Sam  put  aside  his  knife  and  fork.  Then, 
still  meditatively,  he  moved  his  head  slowly  up  and 
down. 

'*You*re  a  clever  girl !"  he  quietly  dedarcd.  "You 
deserve  a  better  line  of  work !" 
"I'm  wit' yuh  there!" 
"And  I'm  going  to  give  it  to  you." 
"When?"  asked  Sadie. 

"As  soon  as  I  finish  this  meal,"  replied  Wallaby 
Sam  with  decision.  Brt  still  he  sat  regarding  her 
without  the  slightest  spirit  of  animus. 

"And  where'U  it  be?"  asked  the  carelesa^ed 
Sadie. 

"Right  over  in  my  office,"  was  the  answer. 

"Then  s'posin'  yuh  loosen  up  and  order  me  a 
Peach  Melba  and  a  cup  o'  cawfee,"  suggested  the 
pert-faced  girl,  with  a  shrug  of  indifference.  "For 
if  I  work  wit'  a  party,  I  also  eat  wit'  him!" 

Wallaby  Sam  studied  her  as  she  sat  licking 
whipped  cream  from  her  long-handled  spoon.  She 
did  it  with  a  quietness  oddly  feline.  He  studied 
her  as  she  smiled  back  at  him  over  her  demi-tasse. 


192        .THE  DOOR  OF!  DREAD 


chirpUy  inquiring  if  it  didn't  kind  of  -  remind  him 
of  other  days.  And  he  ccmtinued  to  sttidy  her  at 
she  sat  at  his  side  in  a  taxicab,  nonchalantly  smok- 
ing a  cigarette  as  they  made  their  way  to  his  rooms. 

Sadie,  on  the  other  hand,  was  by  no  means  favor- 
ably inqMPessed  with  either  the  unsavory  neighbor- 
hood or  Hit  blank-fronted  side-street  house  wherem 
Wallaby  Sam  acknowledged  those  rooms  to  be.  But 
she  showed  no  hesitation  as  she  stepped  from  the 
taxicab  and  waited  for  her  ruddy^eeked  a)mpan- 
ion  to  unlock  the  house-door.  She  was  not  afraid 
of  Wallaby  Sam  as  she  would  have  been  of  Keudell. 
And  she  had  sufficiently  run  the  gauntlet  of  forbid- 
ding-fronted houses  to  be  no  longer  intimidated  by 
them. 

'•We'll  go  to  my  office  on  the  first  floor  up,"  ex- 
plained Wallaby  Sam,  as  he  ushered  her  in.  He 
switched  on  the  hall  lights  and  led  Sadie  toward 
the  stairway  which  faced  them.  He  touched  an- 
other light-button  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  unlocked 
a  massive-loddng  door  and  opened  it 

"Be  so  good  as  to  switch  on  the  light/'  he  po- 
litely requested  as  he  ushered  Sadie  through  this 
second  door  and  pointed  to  the  push-button  faintly 
discernible  on  the  farther  wall 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAQ  193 

She  still  felt  reasonably  sure  of  herself.  And  at 
that  juncture,  she  told  herself,  nothing  was  to  be 
gained  by  hesitation.  So  she  stepped  briskly  for- 
ward to  turn  on  the  switch. 

She  was  half-way  across  the  room  when  she  heard 
the  slam  of  the  door  behind  her.  Then  came  the 
sound  of  a  key  hurriedly  turned  in  the  massive  lock, 
and  then  she  uttered  a  foolish  and  quite  chUd-likc 
little  squeal  of  indignation. 

She  ran  back  to  the  door  and  tugged  at  the  knob. 
Then  she  fell  to  kicking  at  the  panels.  But  this 
resulted  in  nothing.  And  she  knew,  by  this  time, 
that  Wallaby  Sam  had  deliberately,  and  a  little  more 
promptly  than  she  had  expected,  made  her  a  pris- 
oner. 

She  stood  there  for  a  minute  or  two  in  the  dark- 
ness, schooling  herself  to  calmness.  Then  she  felt 
her  way  carefully  about  the  room,  padding  along 
the  solid  wall  until  she  came  to  the  light-button. 
To  her  relief,  as  she  pushed  this,  a  solitary  electric 
bulb  flowered  into  light  in  the  ceiling  above  her. 
Then  she  stood  with  her  back  to  the  waU,  studying 
the  room  about  her. 

It  was  not  a  promising  room,  she  saw,  in  which 
to  be  a  prisoner.    It  was  quite  without  windows, 


194        THE  DOOR  OF;  DREAD 


and  with  the  exeeptkm  of  aa  old  leather  coodi,  was 
equally  withoat  fttrnittire.  She  rannised  that  H 
mtsat  have  once  been  used  u  a  storeroom,  for  the 
heavy  door,  she  saw,  had  been  fireproofed  with 
sheet-inm,  painted  and  grained  to  look  Vkt  wood. 
A  rectangle  of  bare  bricks  above  it  showed  where 
a  transom-opoiing  Ind  been  later  walled  t^^  for 
screwed  to  the  door-frame  still  stood  the  slender  rod 
of  a  transom  shift  In  the  ceiling,  at  the  far  side 
of  the  room,  was  the  grin  wofk  of  a  small  ventibt- 
ing  flue.  But  beyond  this  the  room  was  sealed  as 
tight  as  a  strong  box. 

'1  guess  I'm  the  Crusoe  o'  this  idand,  all  ri|^ 
all  rig^tr  she  announced  to  the  walls  about  her. 

But  she  next  gave  hti>  attention  to  the  walls,  for 
on  more  than  one  occasicm  in  the  past  she  had  suc- 
ceeded in  eating  her  way  out  through  mere  plaster 
and  laths.  But  the  walls  in  qn«rti(»i,  she  discovmd 
as  she  tapped  interrogatively  about,  seemed  to  be 
of  solid  masonry  plastered  and  then  covered  vrith 
painted  basiap* 

She  went  to  the  heavy  leather  couch  and  carefully 
and  noisdessly  turned  it  over.  Amid  the  quad- 
rangle of  dust  where  it  had  stood  she  found  a  nnall 
pile  of  old  new^pers,  a  pair  of  faifed  tapestry 


THE  DOOR  QF  DREAD 


195 


window  curtains,  an  empty  cardboard  box  and  a 
faded  cotton  umbrella  with  a  broken  ferule.  She 
stared  down  at  them  with  disgust.  Then  she  re- 
turned the  couch  to  its  former  position,  and  sat 
down  on  it,  deep  in  thought 

Then  she  slipped  off  her  wrap,  pinned  up  the  skirt  . 
of  her  Collet  gown,  and  having  vigorously  but  de- 
terminedly wofked  a  steel  from  her  corsets,  crossed 
to  the  door-frame  against  which  the  transom-rod 
was  screwed.  Then  patiently  and  laboriously,  using 
her  corset-steel  as  a  screw-driver,  she  removed  the 
fastenings  whidi  held  the  lower  end  of  this  rod  to 
the  wood.  The  upper  fastenings  were  beyond  her 
reach.  But  she  was  satisfied  with  being  able  to 
lever  away  a  good  two-thirds  of  tlie  rod,  twisting 
and  bending  the  sdid  iron  until  it  broke  under  the 
strain. 

When  she  shook  it  free  of  its  fasteners  she  held 
in  her  hand  an  instrument  of  either  offense  or  de- 
fense that  was  two  feet  in  length  and  almost  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  She  weighed  it 
In  her  hand,  studiously,  as  a  golf  player  weighs  a 
'dthfttp  and  then  stared  even  more  studiously  about 
tile  room  in  whidi  she  found  herself  a  prisoner. 

Her  first  point  of  attack  was  the  door,  on  which. 


196        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


the  condttded,  she  might  be  able  to  use  her  rod  u 
a  jiininy.  But  this,  the  iooii  saw,  was  hopdest*, 
as  the  sheet-iron  covering  gave  her  no  opening  and 
the  necessity  for  silence  limited  her  to  <»ily  prying 
and  kvering  movements.  So  she  directed  her  at- 
tention next  to  the  walls.  These  she  founc*,  .dice 
she  had  scratched  away  iht  burlap  and  plaster,  to 
be  of  brickworic.  And  she  promptly  realiaed  tiiat 
it  would  take  her  all  night  to  barrow  throu|^  a  bar- 
rier so  formidabte. 

Her  hst  resource,  accordingly,  was  the  floor. 
This  was  covered  by  a  wdl-wom  Wilton  carpet  se- 
curely tacked  in  place.  So  it  took  several  minutes' 
work  with  her  rod  to  free  even  one  comer  of  diis 
carpet  She  wori^d  sfowly  and  cautiously,  for  she 
found  th-  dust  disagreeaUe,  and  die  worked  nlently 
because  she  wanted  no  betrayal  of  her  movements. 

When  die  had  two  sides  of  the  carpet  free  of 
tacks  she  rolled  it  carefully  back,  revealing  a  aust- 
covered  hardwood  floor  not  at  all  to  her  liking. 
But  near  the  ^nter  of  this  floor,  sht  saw,  was  a 
break  in  the  solid  boarding,  apparently  marking  the 
spot  where  a  pipe-flue  or  a  ventilator  had  ooct 
stood.  It  had  been  neatiy  and  firmly  patched,  how- 
ever, witii  short  boards  matdiing  Iht  rest  of  the 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  197 


tonguc-and-groove  flooring.  So  she  spread  out  one 
of  the  old  newspapers,  kneeled  down  upon  it,  and 
began  a  silent  and  cautious  investigatioti  of  the 
board  cracks. 

In  five  niinutes  she  had  the  first  short  piece  of 
flooring  removed.  In  a  scarcely  greater  length  ol 
time  she  had  succeeded  in  lifting  away  the  remain- 
ing  six  boards.  This  gave  her  a  clear  view  of  the 
floor-joists  and  the  plaster  and  laths  forming  the 
ceiling  of  the  room  below.  What  stood  in  that 
room  below  she  had  no  means  of  knowing  and  no 
power  of  judging.  She  merely  remembered  that 
her  work  must  be  absolutely  silent  For  with  the 
first  sound,  she  felt,  her  last  chance  woukl  be  gone. 

She  knelt  beside  her  burrow,  frr  several  min- 
utes, deep  in  thought.  Then  she  rose  to  her  feet, 
spread  several  of  the  newspapers  about  the  open- 
ing, found  the  corset-steel  she  had  tossed  aside,  and 
from  under  the  couch  drew  out  the  old  cotton  um- 
brella with  the  broken  ferule.  Placing  these  beside 
her,  she  lay  face  down  on  the  floor  with  her  head 
directly  over  the  opening.  Then,  with  the  utmost 
care  and  delicacy  of  finger  movement,  she  began  to 
pick  away  all  detachable  jweces  of  plaster  showing 
between  the  laths.  She  persevered  at  this  until  she 


198        THE  DOOR  OF!  DREAD 


had  picked  and  nibbled  a  square  foot  of  the  lath- 
ing as  clean  of  plaster  as  a  hound  gnaws  a  ham 
bone  clean  of  meat.  But  the  finishing  coat  of  the 
ceiling  below  still  remained  intact.  And  this,  she 
knew,  was  the  perilous  part  of  the  operation. 

So  it  was  with  the  care  of  a  surgeon,  using  her 
corset-steel  as  a  bistoury,  that  she  made  her  first 
tentative  incision  through  the  harder  plaster-of- 
Paris  below  one  of  the  wider  lath-vents.  A  small 
section  of  this  cracked  loose,  and  with  the  aid  of 
her  steel  point  she  was  able  to  keep  it  from  falling. 
Holding  her  breath,  she  finally  succeeded  in  lifting 
it  away.  By  the  soft  flow  of  warmer  air  against 
her  cheek  she  knew  that  she  had  cut  an  opening 
through  the  ceiling-shell  into  the  room  below. 

So  she  lay  there,  without  moving,  listening  in- 
tently and  staring  down  through  the  narrow  crevice. 
Yet  no  sound  was  to  be  heard  and  no  faintest  glim- 
mer of  light  showed  itself.  So  she  began  to  work 
again  at  the  plaster,  this  time  attacking  a  lath-end 
nearly  severed  by  a  heaven-sent  knot-hole.  From 
this  knot-hole  she  picked  away  every  shred  of  plas- 
ter, taking  infinite  precautions  that  no  loose  ends 
should  fall  away  and  strike  the  floor  below.  For 
what  that  floor  held  was  still  a  mystery  to  her. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  199 

By  this  time  she  was  able  to  insert  a  couple  of 
fingers  through  the  opening  and  could  work  to 
greater  advantage.  Once  the  lath-end  was  dean  of 
plaster  she  held  it  firmly  and  pressed  it  from  the 
joist  until  it  was  free  of  the  nail-head,  after  which 
it  was  easy  enough  to  twist  it  entirely  away.  This 
gave  her  an  opening  a  good  two  inches  wide  and 
four  inches  long,  an  opening  entirely  through  the 
ceiling.    Through  this  she  guardedly  and  slowly 
pushed  the  umbrella,  first  releasing  the  handle- 
spring  so  that  when  it  was  completely  through  the 
aperture  the  steel  cover-rods  mushroomed  outward 
and  opened  wider  and  wider  as  she  drew  the  um- 
brella handle  cautiously  upward  again. 

She  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief  as  she  fixed  this  han- 
dle in  place,  for  she  knew  now  that  she  could  work 
without  danger  of  being  overheard.  From  now  <ai 
all  falling  fragments  of  plaster  merely  dropped 
soundlessly  into  the  inverted  bell  of  the  umbrella 
cover  and  hung  there  until  she  had  an  opening  large 
enough  to  let  her  hand  through  and  lift  them  away. 
She  worked  more  quickly  now,  both  grateful  for  the 
current  of  fresh  air  that  seeped  against  her  face 
and  encouraged  by  the  thought  that  her  movements 
had  been  quite  silent.  And  by  this  tone  she  had 


200 


JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


cleared  away  over  a  foot  and  a  half  of  the  laths  and 
plaster  between  the  two  joists. 

She  emptied  the  umbrella  of  its  debris,  closed  it 
and  carefully  drew  it  up  through  the  aperture.  Then 
she  silently  and  cautiously  moved  the  heavy  leather 
couch  over  against  the  opening.  She  next  took  up 
the  pair  of  old  tapestry  window  curtains  and  tied 
and  twisted  and  knotted  them  together.  One  end 
of  this  roughly  improvised  scaling-ladder  she  tied 
to  the  nearest  couch-leg,  the  other  end  she  lowered 
into  the  darkness  of  the  room  beneath  her. 

She  kneeled  over  this  little  well  of  darkness  again, 
listening  intently.  Then  she  rose  to  her  feet,  took 
up  her  wrap  and  gloves,  gave  one  final  look  about 
her  disordered  prison  and  carefully  switched  off  the 
light  Then,  holding  her  wrap  in  her  teeth,  she 
sat  down  on  the  floor  and  gathered  her  skirts  close 
about  her  knees,  letting  her  slippered  feet  pro- 
trude through  the  ceiling-hole.  The  next  moment 
she  was  lowering  hnrself  slowly  and  cautiously 
down  through  this  hole. 

It  was  not  an  easy  thing  to  do.  But  Sadie  was 
youthful  and  she  was  also  muscular.  She  had  need, 
none  the  less,  of  all  the  strength  of  her  lithe  young 
body  as  she  lowered  herself,  hand  by  liard  and  inch 


THE  DOOR  OF  ©READ 


201 


by  inch,  along  that  pair  of  knotted  window  curtains 
swinging  free  in  space. 

Two  small  fears  possessed  her  as  she  did  so.  One 
was  that  the  dust  from  the  curtains  would  compel 
her  to  sneeze.  The  other  was  that  she  might  reach 
the  curtain-end  before  her  dangling  feet  came  in 
contact  with  the  floor  of  the  room  beneath  her  and 
that  the  sound  of  her  fall  might  yet  betray  her. 
For  she  knew,  once  her  shoulders  were  below  the 
upper  floor  level,  that  there  could  be  no  going  back. 

Her  fears,  however,  were  quite  groundless,  and 
she  had  no  inclination  to  go  back.  Her  swayii^ 
toe  touched  a  carpeted  floor  and  with  her  next  move- 
ment both  feet  were  firmly  planted.  Then  she  took 
a  great  breath  of  relief  and  peered  about  through 
the  unbroken  darkness,  with  her  cai3  straining  for 
the  slightest  sound. 

She  stood  there  listening  for  several  minutes. 
Then  she  stooped  and  pulled  the  slippers  from  hfer 
feet.  These,  together  with  her  long  white  gloves, 
she  bundled  up  in  her  wrap.  Then  she  groped  her 
way  slowly  and  noiselessly  across  the  floor  until  her 
outstretched  fingers  came  in  contact  with  a  wall- 
surface.  She  continued  to  work  her  guarded  way 
along  this  wall  until  she  came  to  a  door.  Once 


202         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


there  she  put  down  her  wrap,  leaving  it  close  beside 
the  baseboard.  Then  she  stood  with  her  ear  pressed 
fiat  against  the  door-panel. 

As  she  listened  there  ^  could  make  out  the  faint 
but  unmistakable  souiid  of  movements  in  some  other 
part  of  the  house.  Just  where  those  movements 
came  from  she  could  not  tell.  But  they  served  as 
a  warning  that  her  way  to  the  street  might  not 
be  so  clear  as  she  had  hqped. 

She  reached  for  the  door-knob,  and  nursing  it  be- 
tween firm  fngers,  turned  it  so  guardedly  that  she 
succeeded  in  opening  the  door  without  ponderable 
sound.  She  swung  it  back  with  equal  caution.  Then, 
from  some  room  farther  along  the  darkened  hall, 
she  made  out  a  vague  ray  of  light.  And  the  next 
moment  she  knew  that  it  was  from  this  room  that 
she  had  caught  the  sound  of  some  one  moving  cau- 
tiously about. 

She  tiptoed  forward  through  the  darkness,  ad- 
vancing on  her  shoeless  feet  without  appreciable 
noise.  She  crept  on  until  she  came  to  the  partly 
opened  door  itself.  Without  moving  this  door,  the 
craned  about  and  peered  into  the  lighted  room. 

Then  she  held  her  breath  again  and  stood  with- 
out the  shift  or  change  of  a  musde-flexor.  Foi; 


THE  TOOR  OF!  DREAD  203 

on  the  far  side  of  that  room,  with  his  back  to  her, 
she  could  distinctly  sec  the  rotund  figure  of  Wallaby 
Sam. 

He  was  stooping  before  the  opened  door  of  a 
small  wall  safe.   She  could  see  the  high  lights  on 
the  polished  dome  of  his  head  and  along  the  arc  of 
his  smoothly  starched  collar-back.   Above  this  col- 
lar she  could  see  the  pendulous  and  pink-fleshed 
neck.   She  could  even  hear  his  heavy  breathing  as 
he  stooped  lower  and  drew  a  packet  of  papers  from 
one  of  the  inner  chambers  of  the  open  safe.  And 
even  in  that  position  of  stooping  abstraction  he  re- 
tained an  aspect  that  was  both  rubicund  and  bird- 
like in  its  suggestion  of  perky  inconsequentiaUty. 

Sadie's  stare,  as  she  studied  him,  was  even  moi« 
abstracted.  It  wandered  from  the  high  light  on 
the  forward  stooping  head-top  to  the  center  table 
half-way  across  the  room,  where  her  mildly  in^ 
mg  glance  rested  on  the  tall  column  of  a  Russian 
brass  candlestick  at  least  a  foot  and  a  half  in  hciglit 
Then,  taking  a  deep  breath,  she  advanced  noiafr. 
lessly  into  the  room,  edging  step  try  ga„ded  8t» 
toward  the  center  table. 

Once  there,  and  with  her  eyes  still  fastened  on 
^  allaby  Sam's  stooping  back,  she  reached  gmpin^ 


204        JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


out  for  the  brass  candlestidc.  Then  she  advanced 
again  toward  the  open  safe-front,  with  her  mtoit 
gaze  fixed  on  the  small  shining  area  of  the  pink- 
fleshed  skull. 

He  neither  saw  her  nor  heard  her  as  she  rtood 
so  dosdy  behind  him.  He  was  croudied,  widi 
Uithe  wheezes  of  omtentmait,  over  a  little  bundle 
of  folded  white  sheets  and  blue-prints.  Around 
these,  after  a  vohqytuous  stare  at  the  dosdy  in- 
scribed white  pages,  he  sni^yped  a  rubber  band  to 
hdd  them  together. 

It  was  at  the  precise  moment  that  the  rubber  band 
snapped  against  the  folded  and  sorted  {»pers  that 
his  world  suddenly  wait  out,  like  a  bubble  borsti^ 
in  mid-air. 

Fen'  it  was  at  that  moinent  tiot  the  wwnan  so 
dose  bdiind  him,  swinging  witfi  all  her  f oree^ 
brot^t  the  luavy  canSe^dc  ^»wn  on  the  ^v«<- 
ing  high  light  along  the  pink-fleshed  «tV3lL 

It  was  <»ily  at  tiie  nxuneut  of  ito^  ^adi 
that  she  closed  her  eyes.  In  the  next  Ineath  sl»  was 
watching  him  go  over  udewise,  slowly  atKi  gen^> 
and  quite  w'thout  sound  or  outcry.  She  saw  him 
lie  tiiere  on  his  side,  widi  oat  hand  tiirowtt  out, 
in  a  child-like  attituik  of  inconsequential  dreariness. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  205 


When  she  had  made  sure  that  he  did  not  move 
she  went  back  to  the  table  and  replaced  the  candle- 
stick. Then  she  stepped  quickly  in  over  his  out- 
stretched legs,  crouched  down  in  front  of  the  safe 
and  tossed  out  on  the  middle  of  the  floor  the  dif- 
ferent bundles  of  paper  which  she  found  there.  An 
exultant  little  thrill  ran  through  her  as  she  glanced 
at  the  appellation  penciled  on  the  third  bundle.  It 
ran:  "Secret  &  Confidential— Navy  Department 
Wireless  Code— For  Officers  Only." 

She  had  no  chance  to  read  further,  for  a  throaty 
little  groan  frcmi  the  fallen  man  told  her  that  he 
was  coming  to  his  senses.  But  she  knew  that  she 
had  recovered  the  wireless  code. 

So  she  scrambled  to  her  feet,  dodged  back  to  the 
other  room  for  her  wrap  and  slippers  and  as  quickly 
returned.  She  flung  her  wrap  on  the  floor,  and 
into  it  tossed  the  entire  collection  of  papers.  She 
h^d  no  time  for  sorting.  That,  she  knew,  could 
be  done  later.  But  she  took  everything  that  the 
wall  safe  could  yiekL  Then  she  even  more  hurriedly 
put  on  her  slippers,  for  by  this  time  the  grotesquely 
rotund  figure  on  the  floor  had  moved  an  arm  and 
then  its  head,  and  was  even  staring  up  at  her  with 
dazed  and  uncomprehendmg  eyes. 


206        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


She  caught  up  her  wrap,  tied  the  precious  pi^en 
hi  it  by  the  trick  of  knottuig  together  her  fang 
sleeves,  and  held  it  dose  to  her  tide,  like  a  DJabrian 
immigraiit  chstdiiiig  the  shawl  that  omrict  her 
worldly  goods.  Then  she  crossed  the  room,  stepped 
outoide  and  closed  the  door  after  her.  She  groped 
her  way  hurriedly  along  the  daric  haU  until  she  came 
to  the  street-door.  It  opened  with  a  spring  k)ck. 
The  next  moment  she  was  ontside  the  house. 

But  the  ride-street  eonfrotttii4g  her  was  both  si- 
lent and  deserted.  And  she  had  already  recognised 
it  as  an  unsavory  part  of  the  city.  She  was  afraid 
of  solitude,  wordlessly  terrified  at  the  thou^it  of 
isolaticm.  Some  mischance,  she  felt,  was  sdJ  d«»- 
tined  to  intervene  and  rob  her  of  her  predons  hanL 
And  now,  of  all  times,  she  wanted  to  be  sure  of 
herself. 

A  little  way  down  the  street  she  made  out  a  mil- 
liner's  shop  window,  opposite  a  street  lan^w  And 
from  beyond  this  street  lamp  she  could  he«r  the 
sound  of  steadily  approadiing  footsteps. 

A  small  chill  seized  her  at  the  fateful  sound  of 
those  feet.  Needling  tremors  of  apprehension  con- 
tinued to  play  along  htr  spim  until  hi  the  tmcertam 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAP  207 

light  ifae  made  out  the  brass  buttons  of  a  patrolman 
on  his  beat  Then  she  promptly  dove  down  the 
house-steps  and  made  for  him,  like  a  winded  swim- 
mer making  for  a  life  raft 

He  drew  up,  as  he  saw  her,  and  awaited  her  com- 
ing. He  did  so  with  not  a  little  wonderment.  He 
even  suspended  judgment  as  she  caught  his  arm  and 
clung  to  it 

"I  want  yuh  t'  pinch  me  I"  she  gasped. 

Instead  of  doing  so,  however,  he  calmly  swung 
her  about  an  ?  inspected  her  from  her  dippered  toes 
to  the  undttlatory  upper  hem  of  hei-  dinner  gown. 

"What's  the  trou  ilc,  lady?"  he  quietly  inquired. 

"Pinch  mer  commanded^Sadie. 

"Now,  Uttle  one,  you  cahn  down  I" 

But  Sadie  refused  to  be  calmed. 

"Ofl&er,  are  yuh  goin'  to  gather  me  in?" 

He  turned  l»r  half-patiently  and  half- wearily 
about  Fmding  her  breath  unimpeachable,  he  had 
•ecretly  deckkd  tiuit  it  was  cocaine. 

**You  run  akn%  home  and  sleep  it  off,"  he  mildly 
advised  her.  "Take  a  nice  long  sleep  and  the  Wil- 
lies'U  an  be  gone  m  the  mormngr 

"Yuh  won't  run  me  in?"  she  challenged,  as  she 


r 


208 


THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAP 


r,i' 


ttmed  and  itared  in  terror  finfc  one  way  and  then 
the  other  along  the  midnight  street 

"I  ain't  no  reit  cure  robber/'  he  aunounced,  ''and 
I  guess  the  best—" 

But  he  did  not  finish  that  sentence.  For  Sadie 
had  backed  sbwly  away  until  she  stood  beside  a 
galvanized  garbage  pail  awaiting  iU  collector  at  the 
curb.  From  the  top  of  this  pafl  she  Ufted  an  empty 
beer  bottle.  Then  she  sent  it  flymg  straii^  and 
true  through  the  plate-glass  window  of  the  milUner's 
shqp  beside  them. 

"Now  yuh  gotta  gather  me  in  f  die  triumphantly 
announced. 

Andthe  officer*  in^r^ssed  with  the  fact  that  sudi 
madness  might  direct  the  next  ndssile  at  his  own 
person,  proaq>tly  gathered  her  in. 

Her  smiling  docDity  as  he  hurried  her  along  to 
his  signal  box  rather  per^exed  him.  And  she 
seemed  clear-headed  enough,  now  that  his  night- 
stick was  out  and  his  arm  was  securely  linked 
through  has. 

"Excuse  me,  kdy,"  he  finally  inquired,  "but 
why're  you  so  bent  on  going  to  the  station  iKnssef ' 

Sadie  laughed  quietly  and  triumphantly  as  she 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  209 


noted  tliat  a  precinct  captain  was  swinging  across 
the  street  to  join  them. 

'*B'cattse  I've  gotta  gold  mine  under  me  left  arm 
tere,"  was  her  ridiculous  answer,  "and  I  sure 
wantta  get  'lehind  bars  before  it's  taken  off  me  I" 


CHAPTER  TEN 


IT  was  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning  that  Sadie 
Wimpd  presented  herself  at  Kestner's  door,  in 
response  to  her  superior  officer's  summons. 

"Sit  down,"  said  tliat  superior  officer,  without  his 
customary  smile.  Sadie,  eying  him,  sank  into  a 
dbair. 

"I  suppose  you  know  that  we  missed  Wallaby 
Sam  by  half  an  hour  last  nig^t?" 

"He  always  was  a  headliner  on  the  get-away  cir- 
cuits!" acknowledged  the  girt 

"But  the  thing  I  carft  understand,  Sadie,  is  why 
you  neglected  to  call  m  up  the  moment  you  knew 
where  Breitman's  plant  was.  I'm  not  saying  that 
this  cock  stuff  wasn't  a  magnificent  haul.  But  it 
would  have  been  twice  as  valuable  if  we'd  been  abte 
to  round  up  Wallaby  Sam  himself.  And  it  was 
quite  bad  enough  losing  Andelman." 

The  giri  betrayed  a  tendency  to  fidget 

"Well,  there's  one  remark  I  wantta  make,  Mista 
Kestner.  When  this  work  turns  into  a  three-ring 

210 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  211 


circus  I  c  ui't  watch  but  one  ring  at  a  time.  I  got 
so  ex'.ited  when  I  p,it  me  hands  on  those  gover'nienf 
codes  that  I  thottjht  I'd  better  be  goin'  when  the 
goin'  was  good,  I  didn't  think  much  about  Wallaby 
Sam,  except  that  he  might  come  to,  and  gunme  the 
chase!" 

Kestner  studied  her  with  a  form  of  perplexity. 

"But  Breitman  has  been  acting  as  Keudell's  rij^t- 
hand  man!  And  I  felt  sure  that  had  been  made 
plain  to  you." 

**Oh,  I  was  gerry  to  that,  all  ri^it,"  admitted  the 
somewhat  endnrrassed  young  woman  in  the  chair. 
"But  there  were  certain  reasons  why  I  wasn't  so 
crazy  about  havin'  WaUaby  Sam  rounded  vtp  last 
night!" 

"What  reasons?" 

"Wen,  I  Imew  Wthnacfa  would  be  on  the  job. 
And  I  didn't  want  Wilsnadi  tiiird-de^;reein'  that  old 
robin  r 

"Why  not?" 

"B'cause  that  old  robin  knows  too  nmdi  about 
me  past." 
"What  past?" 

"The  past  Blynn  said  yuh'd  all  ke^  the  door  shut 
on,  s'kmgas  I  kept  it  shut  mysdf  r 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


"But  can  you,  Sadie?" 

"Not  if  there's  a  roast  comin'  ev'ry  time  I  make 
a  try  at  it!"  was  the  girl's  somewhat  embittered  re- 
tort. 

Kestner,  conscious  of  her  anger,  glanced  down 

at  his  watch. 

"But  why  isn't  Wilsnach  here?"  he  asked. 
Sadie,  getting  up  from  her  chair,  crossed  aim- 
lessly to  the  window  and  stared  out  over  the  serrated 
line  of  the  housetops. 

"I  ain't  his  nurse!"  was  her  retort,  flung  back 
over  an  insolent  shoulder. 

"But  I  s^nt  for  you  both,"  explained  Kestner, 
at  a  loss  to  account  for  both  her  sudden  aceririty 
and  her  splendor  of  raiment.  For  Sadie  was  ar- 
rayed in  a  tailored  suit  of  steel  blue  that  fitted  her 
like  a  glove,  with  a  modish  little  rainbow  hat  a-rake 
on  her  elaborately  coifTured  head  and  a  huge  bondi 
of  hothouse  violets  pinned  to  her  waist 

"Service  work  ain't  exactly  made  us  into  Siamese 
twins,"  she  announced,  as  she  continued  to  stare  out 
over  the  housetops.  Her  soul  was  not  at  peace  with 
itself,  and  she  preferred  to  evade  the  over-investi- 
gatory eye  of  her  chief.  The  belated  Wilsnadi,  she 
even  suspected,  was  at  that  moment  patiently  stand- 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


213 


ing  in  line  to  buy  two  seats  for  the  Casino  opening. 
And  ^  te  of  those  seats,  she  also  suspected,  was  for 
her. 

Kestner  sat  studying  the  trim  young  figure  in 
steel  blue.  Then  he  smiled  a  little,  as  though  some 
untoward  incident  had  confirmed  his  earlier  suspi- 
cions as  to  her  disingenuousness. 

"Sadie,  where  did  those  violets  come  from?"  he 
calmly  inquired. 

"Is  wearin'  'em  against  the  law?"  she  as  calmly 
equivocated. 

Kestner  smiled  for  the  second  time. 

"Has  Wilsnach  been  sending  you  flowers  for  the 
•second  time?" 

Sadie,  at  this,  swung  squarely  about  and  faced 
her  interrogator. 

"So  he  told  yuh  he  sent  me  them  roses?"  There 
was  an  unlooked-for  note  of  sharpness  in  that  in- 
dignantly put  question. 

"Yes,"  admitted  Kestner,  "he  told  me." 

Sadie's  laugh  was  quite  without  mirth. 

"And  I  s'pose  he  told  yuh  why?" 

"He  said  you  deserved  them,  as  I  remember  it, 
for  he  considered  you'd  done  as  neat  a  piece  ol 
work  as  he'd  ever  seen  in  all  the  Service." 


\ 


214        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

Sadie  turned  back  to  the  window.   She  laughed 
again,  but  her  eyes  were  smarting. 

"About  the  same  as  slippin'  a  fish-tail  to  the 
trained  seal  at  the  end  of  its  stunt.  I  s'pose!"  she 
commented. 

Kestner  suddenly  became  serious. 
"Sadie,  how  many  times  have  you  been  married?" 
When  the  girl  in  the  steel  blue  suit  swung  about 
for  the  second  time,  it  was  almost  with  fierceness. 

"S'posin'  I  have  hitched  up  a  time  or  two!  Ain't 
a  girl  gotta  have  some  hobby  ?" 

"How  many  times  have  you  been  married?"  re- 
peated the  man  confronting  her. 

Open  antagonism  now  showed  itself  in  Sadie's 

stare. 

"Yuh'U  be  wantin'  me  finger-prints  nextl"  was 
her  pertly  derisive  cry. 

"But  how  many  times,  please?" 

Their  eyes  met.  Then  Sadie  turned  back  to  the 

window. 

"I  was  married  twice— not  countin'  Cambridge 
Chariie!  And  it  took  so  much  dough  to  git  a  de- 
cree against  thai  first  lemon  that  I  let  the  other  guy 
attend  to  his  own  unhitchin' !" 

"How  about  Wallaby  Sam?" 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  215 
Sadie  snorted  aloud. 

"That  old  geezer  was  nothin'  but  a  gang-boss  to 
me!  And  yuh  canned  me  chances  before  I  could 
git  a  hook  into  hhn!"  Her  voice  took  on  a  note 
of  mockery.  "But  wasn't  I  the  foolish  kid  to  run 
away  wit'  the  idear  that  gittin'  married  was  just 
me  own  privut  affair?  Wasn't  I  the  wall-eyed  wop 
not  to  see  that  about  ev'ry  gover'ment  agent  pa- 
radin'  a  tin  badge  had  a  right  to  poke  his  nose  into 
me  birt'  certificate  and  me  other  equally  privut  mat- 
ters? Wasn't  I,  now?" 

Kcstner  did  not  smile.  His  patience,  in  fact,  car- 
ried with  it  a  touch  of  pity. 

*That  is  not  the  point,  Sadie.  You  just  spoke 
about  a  certain  door.  And  the  point  is  that  a  very 
wise  man  has  said  the  future  is  only  the  past,  en- 
tered by  another  door.  No  one  is  more  anxious  for 
your  eventual  happiness  than  I  am.  But  our  past 
has  the  habit  of  reaching  out  a  hand  and  taking 
our  happiness  away  from  us.  I  only  want  to  warn 
you  that—" 

"Well,  there's  no  wop  can  put  the  rollers  under 
me!"  cut  in  the  indignant-eyed  young  woman. 
'There  was  nothin'  underhand  about  any  o'  that 
hitchin'  up,  and  there  was  nothin'  underhand  about 


216        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

the  unhitchin*— which  is  more  than  some  o*  thwe 
Fift'  Avenoo  ribs  can  say!  I  was  druv  to  it! 
Three  lemons  in  a  row,  who  never  come  throug^i 
wit'  enough  to  pay  a  honest  board-bill!" 

"Then  I'm  as  glad  as  you  arc  that  you're  legally 
free.  But  there  is  one  other  question  I  must  ask 
you.  Has— cr—has  Wilsnach  ever  led  you  to  be- 
lieve that  a  termination  of  that  freedom  might  be 
not  altogether  undesirable?" 
"Come  again!"  said  the  puzzled  Sadie. 
"Has  Wilsnach,"  repeated  Kestner  with  a  sigh, 
"been  trying  to  make  k)ve  to  you?" 

Still  again  Sadie's  laugh  was  about  as  mirthless 
as  the  chatter  of  a  kingfisher. 

"That  gink?"  she  inquired,  with  a  gesture  of  con- 
tempt. "Why,  that  gink  ain't  got  no  more  idear 
o'  makin*  love  than  a  hcarse-pluaie  has!" 

"But  you  don't  altogether  dislike  him,  do  you?" 
Sadie's  face  softened  a  little. 
"He'5  the  only  guy  who's  been  decent  to  me  in 
a  dog't;  age!   I  mean  exceptin'  yuh— and  yuh're 
goin'  to  beat  it  for  the  double-harness  shop  as  soon 
as  yuh  get  through  pilotin'  this  case!" 

Kestner's  face  retained  all  its  solemnity.  "But 
thi' .  case  is  far  from  ended."  he  reminded  her. 


THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAR 


217 


**No,  it  ain't  ended.  And  until  it's  ended  I  s'pose 
there's  no  use  remeniberin'  we're  human  beln's !  It's 
r>U  for  the  sake  o'  the  Law  I  But  take  it  from  me, 
I'm  gettin'  good  and  tired  o'  the  Law  1  What  I've 
saw  o*  the  Law  this  last  few  weeks  is  enough  to 
drive  a  girl  to  blackmailin'  her  way  up  and  down 
Broadway  until  her  sucker-list  is  as  empty  as  a  last 
year's  bird's  nest!" 

"You  could  never,  never  go  back  to  that  sort  of 
thing,  Sadie." 

"Yuh  don't  know  what  I  could  go  back  to,"  de- 
clared the  desperate-eyed  young  woman  at  the  win- 
dow. "And  gum-shoein'  ain't  so  soul-satisfy  in'  that 
I'm  goin'  to  hang  crape  over  me  natural  feelin's  un- 
til Keudell's  last  come-on  goes  up  to  the  Big 
House  1" 

"But  until  this  case  is  finished,  Sadie,  none  of 
us  can  afford  to  have  feelings.  That  may  seem  a 
little  hard,  but  I've  suffered  from  it  quite  as  much 
as  you  have.  The  three  of  us,  Wilsnach  and  you 
and  myself,  are  now  secret  agents.  And  a  secret 
agent,  after  all,  is  only  a  spy.  And  a  spy  has  to 
remember  that  he  must  always  work  alone,  with- 
out oflRcial  help,  and  that  when  working  he  can 
have  no  friends,  and  that  if  he's  cornered  he  can't 


218        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD. 

even  ask  for  protection.  This  is  a  big  case  we  re 
on,  and  in  a  case  like  this  we  sometimes  have  to 
use  queer  agents." 

Sadie  swung  about  on  him. 
"Am  I  so  queer?"  she  promptly  demanded. 
"I'm  trying  to  save  you  from  getting  that  way. 
You're  far  too  fine  a  girl.  Sadie,  to  let  a  chance  like 
this  ever  slip  away  from  you." 

"I  don't  see  that  it's  gettin'  me  anywhere  in  par- 

tic'lar." 

"But  it  isn't  ended  yet." 

"And  don't  look  like  it  ever  will  end." 

Kestner  could  afford  to  smile  at  her  petulance. 

"You  must  remember,"  lie  explained  with  the  ut- 
most patience,  "that  it  took  Wilkie  just  fourteen 
months  to  run  down  that  famous  one-hundred-dol- 
lar Monroe-head  silver  certificate.  And  we're  run- 
ning down  something  infinitely  more  important  than 
a  piece  of  cotmterfeit  paper." 

"Oh,  I  ain't  kickin'  against  helpin'  to  round  up 
Keudell.  No  decent  Amurican  wants  a  foreign 
agent  like  that  nosin'  out  /ur  Navy  secrets.  And 
I  guess  I  hate  him  as  much  as  yuh  do.  What's 
more,  he's  the  kind  o'  crook  yuh  gotta  get,  or  he'll 
get  yuh.  But  I  ain't  consoomed  wit'  affection  for 


THE  DOOK  QF.  DREAD  219 


gropiii'  rouiid  in  the  'daric.  I  wantte  be  ferry  to 
what's  goifi'  on,  and  I  wantta  know  wlien  I'm  gum- 
min*  the  gstne." 

"Precisely/'  the  patient-eyed  Kestner  asiured  her. 
"And  that's  exactly  why  yon  and  WDsnach  were 
sent  for.  There's  a  new  Idnk  in  this  case,  and  I've 
got  to  explain  it  But  I  can't  understand  why  Wils- 
n£xh's  so  late  in  reporting.  By  the  way,  did  you 
see  him  after  leaving  the  Alsatiaf 

"Nor 

"Did  you  see  him  before  thai  Andefamm  dinner?" 
Sadie,  under  her  rice^wder,  turned  a  shade  or 
two  pinker. 
"Yes,"  she  finally  admowledged. 
"Where?" 

"Up  f  the  Metfopolttan." 
'mat  MetropoUtan?" 

"The  Museum  wit'  all  those  old  Maiieri  ni  iL 
Mista  \\nisnadi  said  it'd  do  me  mbd  good.  He's 
been  tryin'  to  argue  me  into  bdievin'  ^tat  picture 
gallery  guff's  got  something  in  it" 

Kestner  knew  better  Hum  to  im^  openly.  He 
wheded  about  In  his  diair  and  togred  witb  the  paper- 
wei|^  on  his  table,  appaiai^  finding  it  dtffieuK 
to  piirase  toy  fiC  reply  lo      eompankm's  lasi  re- 


220        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

mark.  He  surprised  that  compamon  by  suddenly 
opening  a  drawer  and  flinging  a  photograph  on  the 
table-top. 

•*Wcll,  since  you  insist  on  being  gcrry  to  what's 
going  on,  here's  a  different  kind  of  picture  for  you 
to  study.  And  it  will  pay  you  quite  as  well  as  any 
canvas  up  at  the  Metropolitan." 

Sadie  did  not  deign  to  examine  the  photograph. 
She  was  busy  repinning  the  violets  to  her  wairt. 
Kestner  himself  took  up  the  picture  and  heki  it  out 
for  her. 

"Who's  the  gink?"  she  casually  inquired. 

'That* s  iint  man  we've  got  to  round  up  in  the 
next  twenty-four  hours." 

"Why?"  was  Sadie's  indifferent  demand,  as  she 
jok  the  photograph  from  Kestner's  fingers. 

Her  con^MUiion  did  not  answer  her,  for  the  bell 
of  the  desk-phone  ck>se  beside  him  shrilled  out  a 
sudden  caH  He  lifted  the  receiver  and  sgdkt  a 
word  or  two  over  the  wire. 

'*Here's  TOsnach  now,"  he  announced,as  he  hung 
up  iht  receiver. 

But  Sadie  paid  no  attention  to  his  words,  for 
her  face  was  bent  low  over  the  photograph  which 
he  had  handed  to  her.  She  studied  it  long  and 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD  221 


earnestly,  fie  studied  it  so  long  that  Kestner  sat 
in  turn  studying  her.  Yet  what  her  thoughts  were 
he  was  unable  to  decipher.  He  merely  saw  that 
a  new  and  quite  unlooked-for  air  of  solemnity  had 
descended  about  her. 

"So  that's  the  guy  I  gotta  help  round  up  I"  she 
said,  as  Wilsnach  stepped  into  the  room.  But  she 
said  it  more  to  herself,  apparently,  than  to  either 
of  the  two  men  confronting  her.  And  she  contin- 
ued to  stare  abstractedly  out  over  the  serrated  line 
of  the  housetops  as  the  newcomer  seated  himself 
at  her  side. 

Kestner,  in  the  meantime,  handed  the  photograph 
to  Wilsnach. 

"This  mild-looking  gentleman,"  began  the  man 
at  the  table,  "is  the  cause  of  this  little  conference 
of  ours.  We're  here  to  discuss  him.  And  havinsr 
discussed  him,  we're  commanded  to  gather  him  in 
some  time  before  to-morrow  night !" 

Wilsnach  looked  up  from  his  second  scrutiny  of 
the  picture. 

"Anything  to  do  with  the  Keudell  case?"  he  in- 
quired. 

"That  is  a  point  which  we  still  have  to  determine. 
His  name  seems  to  be  Strasser,  David  Strasser. 


222        JH£  DOOR  PF.  DREAD^ 

And  he's  either  a  genius  or  one  of  Ae  deverett 
gay-cats,  as  they  call  them  over  here,  that  ever 

scouted  ahead  of  a  foreign  spy." 

"Whadda  yuh  mean  by  genius?"  contemptuously 
inquired  Sadie,  coming  out  of  her  trance.  Kettner 
noticed  that  she  ignored  the  snapshot  which  WUi- 
nach  was  endeavoring  to  pass  on  to  her. 

"A  man  has  surely  some  claim  to  being  called  a 
genius  when  he  can  walk  up  to  Lieutenant-Com- 
mander Hellweg,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  govern- 
ment's proving-grounds  at  Indian  Head,  and  quietly 
but  unequivocally  inform  him  that  both  his  ordnance 
and  his  explosives  are  out  of  date  1" 

"Or  a  nut !"  interjected  Sadie. 

"Well,  that's  what  this  mild-eyed  little  man  did, 
and,  what's  more  to  the  point,  he  seems  to  have 
come  dangerously  near  to  proving  it  Y* 

Kestner  took  up  the  photograph  which  Wilsnach 
had  placed  on  the  table  and  stared  down  at  it  as  he 
continued  to  speak. 

"I'm  not  an  expert  on  such  things,  so  I'm  rot 
going  to  give  you  an  expert's  report  on  the  case, 
lit.  as  Brubacher  explains  it  to  me,  this  man  has 
invented  a  new  explosive.  No,  it's  not  exactly  a 
new  explosive,  but  it's  an  adaptation  of  the  form 


.THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


223 


of  the  older  hii^  txgkmhf,  Tbm  tMc  mad  pio- 
Hc  add  niixtafet  lieaB  aiboat#M  tttw  tting,  reafiy* 
whether  they  hipfiii  to  be  ciQed  MilinUt  or  Max- 
imite  or  Gmlite  or  BaHaMlIt  or  flKgiinhe  or  Lyd- 
dite or  any  other  oM  fUgig  eodhif  %i  fie.'  Chem- 
ically, they've  reaAid  tiicir  tflptwoit  &iut  oi  power» 
and  the  proUem  !■»  beta  to  baBd  gmt  strong 
enough  to  stand  tlMtr  fire  (where  a  preisurs  of 
tw^e  thousawd  pooada  to  ^  sipape  hub  is  now 
considered  low)  and  a^  '  •  same  time  ieskt  &etr 
heat,  when  leas  than  two  U  Mired  disdnifsa  boraa 
out  a  stxteen-kidi  fpmJ* 

"Sm^fom-  discharffss  did  for  ^  Stder  coast 
sun."  aft»fn4<Ht  Wtotarh. 

**Thh  man  Strasser  has  appMendy  hit  on  a  new 
idea.  He  leaibed  that  our  naval  pms  oonldn't  be 
made  maeh  heavier,  for  sadi  a  rifle  has  to  have 
three  feet  of  length  for  eveiy  indi  of  caliber.  Thia 
means  diat  our  new  usrteen-indi  gnn,  ior  inrtance, 
has  to  be  at  least  f orty^i^  feet  long.  Each  gun, 
Brubadmr  tdls  me,  wei|^  almost  nitMty-fonr  tons. 
To  mmaA  heavkr  gims  than  thi^  in  ^  turret  of 
a  dreadnaught  means  the  diqilMemcBt  of  the  Aap 
has  to  be  enonnoudy  incrcMed,  ste  ^  projectfie 
of  eadi  rifle  w«s^  two  thousand  powids  and  a 


224 


JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


broadside  from  a  battery  of  them  would  ked  over 
any  vessel  that  wasn't  of  proporttoaately  enormoits 
tonnage.  And  there  is  a  reasonable  limit,  of  coorse^ 
to  the  wze  of  all  warships,  even  though  our  newef 
inventions  have  emancipated  gun  range  beyond  the 
nieie  line  of  human  vision.  It  was  once  possible, 
I  mean,  to  shoot  only  as  far  as  Ae  eye  can  see. 
But  the  hydroplane  and  the  machinery  of  modem 
range-finding  have  pretty  wen  overcome  Aat  And 
now  the  naval  gun  that  can  reach  the  farthest  is 
the  gun  that  wins  the  fi^  Do  you  follow  me?* 
"We're  right  behind  yuhP  retorted  Sadie. 
"But,  as  I  said  before,  diarges  can't  be  increased 
because  guns  can't  be  made  heavier.  And  too  modi 
explosive  in  a  gun  makes  it  about  as  dangerous  for 
the  man  behind  it  as  for  the  man 'm  front  of  it 
Strasser  apparently  realized  all  this.  So  he  set  to 
work  studying  the  character  of  Ac  expteave.  He 
decided  that  what  was  wanted  was  not  a  pmmd  on 
the  projectile,  but  a  push.  He  wanted  an  expkidve 
that  would  *foBow  throu|^'  like  the  driver  of  a  gdf 
player  asitUf^theball,andnotliltttfae  «ng^ 
sharp  crack  of  a  baseball  bat  That  sing^  sharp 
cradc  bums  out  the  bore,  after  a  certain  namber  of 


THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAD  225 

discharges,  and  keeps  the  breedi-pressiire  always 
to  the  danger  mafk." 

**Do  yuh  get  him?**  the  despairing-eyed  Sadw  de- 
manded of  the  scrtipt]k>cisly  attentive  Wilsnach. 
The  latter  nodded,  thous^  with  a  toudi  of  impai- 
tience. 

"Now  this  man  Strass^/*  oontimaed  Kestner, 
"saw  that  the  explosive  itself  was  about  as  powerfnl 
as  chemistry  could  make  it  So  he  began  to  ex- 
periment  with  guncotton,  in  the  matter  of  mediaii- 
ical  distribution.  He  found  that  a  multi-perforated 
charge  resulted  in  a  rdatively  low  hiitial  pressure 
in  the  gun,  while  the  eiqpbave,  because  it  was  cudi- 
ioned  with  these  comttless  perf<»atioos,  burned  with 
sufficiently  aocderating  rapidity  to  nurintahi  a  con- 
stant pressure  behind  the  jprojectile  during  its  entire 
transit  throui^  the  guo-barrd.  In  oto  words,  he 
devised  an  explosive  that  would  'follow  through* 
and  make  the  kmgest  drive.  The  longer  the  gun, 
of  course,  the  greater  the  push.  So  he  calmly 
walked  to  ^  Washington  audiorities  wad  re- 
quested fhem  to  make  him  a  tdxty-foot  gon.  tbk 
gun  was  to  weigh  seme  sixtjH^ae  tons,  the  fluna 
weight  as  our  present  fourteen-inch  naval  gun,  and 


226        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

would  cost  the  go^ermnent,  Bnibacher  said,  about 
one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars  to  build." 

"And  they  built  itr  asked  Sadie. 

**They  called  the  man  a  crank,  and  got  rid  of 
him.  Then  he  went  to  Indian  Head  and  saw  HcU- 
weg.  He  was  carrying  a  satchel  full  of  the  explo- 
sive and  Hellweg  let  him  have  his  talk  out  They 
kept  the  man  there  for  several  days,  or  one  pretext 
or  another,  and  got  hold  of  all  his  new  explosive 
they  could.  Then  they  secretly  tried  it  out  at  the 
Coast  ArtiHery  Schod  at  Fort  Monroe— «iJ  t* 
madt  good!  It  wasn't  properly  aged,  for  cannon 
powder  needs  half  a  year  to  dry  out,  but  even  with 
a  twdve-indi  gun  tiiey  got  a  range  of  ahnost  six- 
teen miles.  And  that  was  an  eye-opener!" 

"But  what,"  demanded  Wilsnach,  'liad  this  man 
Strasserhitonr 

"He'd  hit  on  the  idea  of  paddng  his  explosive 
in  a  series  of  attenuated  fibers  instead  of  in  a  solid 
mass,  so  that  combustkm,  diffused  for  even  the  in- 
finite part  of  a  momei^  uniformly  probnged  pres- 
sure ftfou|^iont  ^  entire  kngdi  of  the  gim.  That 
gave  the  push  instead  of  tiie  cradc." 

"HuOy  geer  toternipted  the  wearied  girl. 

"Instead  of  being  made  ii^  ti|Mr 


THE  DOOR  pi;  PREAD. 


or  strips,"  Kestner  went  on,  "Strasser  seems  to 
have  secured  a  compound  annularization  of  the  ex- 
plosive by  twisting  infinitely  small  hollow  tubes  of 
it  into  spirals  and  then  spiraling  this  into  coils  and 
then  still  again  spiraling  the  result,  the  same  as  big 
cables  are  made  by  twisting  small  wires  together 
and  then  again  twisting  the  twist,  ad  infinitum.  The 
wires,  in  this  case,  were  like  extremely  small  bed- 
springs  prodigiously  prolonged  and  finally  combined 
so  as  to  produce  the  greatest  riber  attenuation  pos- 
sible. So  combustion,  instead  of  being  like  the 
sound-crack  you  get  when  you  smite  twelve  keys 
of  a  piano,  was  more  like  the  trickle  of  sotmd  when 
you  run  your  finger  along  their  face.** 

"I  believe  I  get  it  now,"  admitted  Wilsnach. 

"But  there's  another  kink  to  this,  which  I  can't 
make  very  plain.  It  depends  on  the  fact  that  an 
explosive,  in  vacuo,  loses  its  effectiveness.  And 
Strasser  seems  to  have  adapted  this  to  his  granu- 
larization  process,  for  chemical  analysis  showed  our 
people  that  periodically  along  his  row  of  detonating 
units  he  had  produced  a  semi-vacuum.  They  think 
this  in  some  way  tends  to  retard  the  full  force  of 
the  explosion  and  helps  to  give  the  pushing  power 
I  spoke  of.  And  that's  about  all  we  know.** 


228        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

**Which  seems  to  be  consid'r'ble  I"  commented 
Sadie,  as  she  took  a  small  mirror  from  her  vanity 
bag  and  wearily  proceeded  to  powder  her  nose. 

"And  what  are  we  to  do?"  asked  the  ever-prac- 
tical Wilsnach. 

"They've  sent  us  orders  to  corral  Strasser.  That 
mild-mannered  crank,  it  seems,  finally  got  indignant 
at  the  suspicion  and  contempt  with  which  he  was 
being  treated  by  the  federal  authorities.  He  kicked 
over  the  traces  and  announced  that  if  Uncle  Sam 
didn't  want  to  buy  his  secret  he'd  go  to  a  govern- 
ment that  would  be  glad  enough  to  get  it.  He  sudr 
denly  packed  up  and  made  for  New  York." 

It  was  Sadie  who  spoke  next. 

"How  d'yuh  know  he  wasn't  tryin'  to  get  next 
to  those  new  coast  guns  of  ours?"  she  casually  in- 
quired. "Why  couldn't  a  guy  like  that  be  a  jome- 
on  for  Keudell  all  the  time?" 

"As  for  that,  of  course,  we  are  still  in  the  dark! 
And  we  can't  get  the  answer  to  it  until  we  get  the 
man  himself." 

"And  what's  the  procedure  this  time?"  inquired 
^Vilsnach. 

Kestner  sat  for  a  moment  deep  in  thought.  Then 
he  handed  over  the  photograph  to  his  colleague. 


.THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAD  229 


'here's  the  man  we  want  It's  a  good  sni^slioi 
of  hun.  BnAadier  had  him  photographed  witiiont 
letting  him  know  he  was  being  taken.  To-^norrowa 
print  of  this  picture  will  be  sent  out  to  about  every 
city  in  America.  But  I'd  rather  like  to  get  Strasser 
before  the  dty  auth(mties  anild  8tq>  iaJ* 

"And  we've  nodiing  but  the  picture  to  go  on?" 

"Nothing  beyond  the  fact  that  Strasser  bought 
a  tkket  for  New  York  and  wu  seen  heading  this 
way." 

"Then  what  are  your  suggestions?" 
Kestner  shrugged  a  shoulder.  "I  have  none."  he 
admitted. 

"Then  we  most  foOow  the  tmal  procedure." 

"Precisdy.  We've  first  got  to  seine  the  city. 
And  the  only  suggestk»  I  can  make  is  tiiat  we  di- 
vide our  territoty  so  tiiat  any  two  of  us  wiU  not  be 
covering  the  same  ground." 

Wilsnaeh,  after  deeply  scrutinizing  the  picture 
for  the  second  ttme»  again  passed  it  on  to  Sadie 
Wimpd.  As  before,  she  gave  a  cursory  glance  at 
it  and  tossed  it  back  on  the  taUe. 

"in  cover  the  trains  and  ferries  along  the  River," 
finally  araioaficed  Kestner.  "And  you,  Wilsnach, 
might  fine-oomb  tiie  likeliest  hotels  and  restaurants 


230        THE  DOOR  CF  DREAD 

and  that  sort  of  diing."  KetHier,  u  Iw  turned  to 
the  woman  seated  by  the  window,  seemed  to  he»- 
tate.  "As  for  you,  Sadie,  what  would  you  prefer 
doingr 

Sadie  was  busy  buttoning  her  glom. 

"Secin*  it's  sudi  a  nice  day.**  she  languidly  an- 
notmoed,  "I  guess  1*11  just  bladcsnake  along  Broad- 
way and  see  what  I  can  slide  intoT* 

"Am  I  to  infer  from  this.**  asked  Kestner,  "that 
the  case  radier  fails  to  interest  you?** 

"Oh,  m  be  on  the  job  when  the  gong  ringsr 
was  Sadie's  listless  r^.  "Yuh  needn't  ott  off  the 
mitts,  Chief,  until  yuh're  dead  sure  I*vc  gone  to 
matr 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN 


^  ADIE  WIMPEL'S  progress  up  Broadway  that 


morning  was  much  brusker  than  the  move- 
ments of  most  blacksnakes.  She  hurried  north  as 
far  as  Forty-second  Street,  made  sure  that  she  was 
not  being  followed  and  then  dipped  into  the  Sub- 
way. There  she  caught  an  express  for  East  Four- 
teenth Street 

Ascending  to  the  street,  she  hurried  still  farther 
eastward  and  then  turned  south.  When  she  came 
to  the  "family  entrance"  of  a  comer  saloon  she 
stepped  in  through  the  faded  swing  door,  looked 
about,  and  seated  herself  at  one  of  the  little  round 
tables  in  the  empty  room.  A  bartender  in  his  shirt- 
sleeves presented  himself. 
"Gimme  a  long  beer,"  commanded  the  girl. 
When  the  bartender  returned  with  this,  however, 
she  viewed  its  foaming  collar  with  indifference. 


Where's  Tim?"  she  demanded. 

231 


232        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


*'Still  sunnin'  hisself  out  in  front,"  solemnly  an- 
nounced her  servitor. 
"I  wantta  see  him." 

"Sure!"  assented  the  bartender,  as  he  swept  Sa- 
die's spurned  change  into  his  huge  palm  and  went 
whistling  from  the  heavy-aired  room  with  its  resid- 
uary taint  of  many  beverages. 

Two  minutes  later  a  portly  figure  wearing  a  dia- 
mond shirt-stud  and  pink-striped  collar  and  cuffs 
stepped  back  into  the  empty  "parlor."  From  one 
comer  of  his  mouth  drooped  a  dark-colored  cigar. 

"Howdy,  Sadie !"  he  said,  without  removing  the 
cigar.  He  stared  down  at  her  with  open  and  half- 
derisive  approbation.  "Hully  gee,  but  they've  got 
yous  queened  up  like  a  Coney  Island  float  1" 

"Tim,  Where's  Shindler?"  demanded  the  woman 
at  the  table,  altogether  ignoring  the  other's  gallantry. 

The  man  called  Tim  smoked  meditatively  tor  a 
moment  or  two :  it  was  plain  that  he  nursed  a  latent 
respect  for  Sadie  Wimpel, 

"That's  one  on  me,  little  one,"  he  confessed.  "If 
yuh  want  to  find  Shindler  yuh'd  better  dig  up  Coke 
Kilvert.  I  seen  him  and  Coke  drinkin'  Chianti 
over  to  Peruchetti's  some  time  early  last  week." 

"And  not  since  tlien?" 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


233 


Sadie  rose  to  her  feet  "AH  right/'  the  an- 
nounced. "Ill  root  out  Coke." 

She  made  her  way  farther  eastward  and  agam 
turned  south.  She  walked  hurriedly  and  with  de- 
termination. She  passed  through  unsavory  streets 
and  veered  nonchalantly  about  even  more  unsavory 
characters  who  looked  after  her  with  quietly  ap- 
praising eyes.  But  there  was  that  in  her  carriage 
whidi  discouraged  pursuit 

She  kq)t  on  her  way  tmti]  she  entered  a  Second 
Avenne  pawnshop  which  tht  knew  to  be  a  "fence" 
for  a  gang  of  up-town  "dips."  Leaning  against  a 
counter  die  bdidd  a  sUm-bodied  young  man  with  a 
mislea<fing  air  of  ddicacy  and  with  eyes  as  soft  as 
a  woman's.  That  disarming  air  of  fragility,  she 
remembered,  was  a  valued  asset  in  professions  such 
as  his. 

"Hello,  kid,"  he  said,  without  moving. 
"HeUo,  Coke." 

"Whaf  s  dom*?"  was  the  youth's  languid  inquiry. 

"Where's  Shindler?" 

Coke  gazed  impassively  at  his  nail-ends. 

"Seardi  me  1 1  ain't  seen  him  ^is  week."  ' 

"Where'd  yuh  see  him  last  wedc  ?" 


234 


THE  DOOR  DREAD 


Coke  pondered  that  question  for  several  moments. 
There  was  an  air  or  determined  authority  about 
Sadie  Wimpel  which  rather  disquieted  him. 

"Down  to  Nitro  Charlie's,"  he  finally  admitted. 

"What  was  he  cookin'  up?" 

Coke's  eyes  fluttered. 

"How  fell  should  I  know?" 

"Yuh  gotta  know,"  was  Sadie's  quiet  response. 

Coke  passed  a  second  measuring  glance  over  her 
trimly  clad  body. 

"Why?" 

"Because  I'm  stoolin'  for  a  Fed  guy,  this  week. 
And  I  don't  wantta  have  to  dig  up  nothin'  against 
yuh,  Coke  I  What  was  Shindler  cookin'  up?" 

Their  studiously  contending  glances  came  together 
like  aerial  scouts  above  masked  batteries.  Behind 
his  enemy's  entrenchments.  Coke  conceded,  might 
be  reserves  which  it  would  be  foolish  to  oppose. 

"Him  and  Charlie  hit  on  a  plan  o'  squeezin'  a 
bunch  out  of  a  German  gunpowder  man  called  Pior- 
kowski.  It  was  some  plant,  for  Charlie'd  pinched 
a  river-launch  full  o'  new  smokeless  from  the  naval 
magazine  up  to  lona  Island.  It  was  a  Navy  officer's 
patent  and  was  bein'  stored  there  to  ripen  for  a 
mont*  or  two/' 


THE  DOOR  Oi;  DREAP 


235 


"Go  on !"  commanded  Sadie. 
"Then  Shindler  faded  away.'* 

"But  where?" 

"Search  me,  Sadie  1  All  I  know  is  that  Charlie's 
sore  as  a  pup,  and  squealin'  about  Shindler  givin' 
him  the  go-by!" 

"And  who's  Piorkowski?" 

"He's  the  big  spade  over  here  for  that  Krupp 
gang  o'  ammtmition  makers.  And  that's  about  all  I 
know." 

"That'll  help,"  said  Sadie. 

Ten  minutes  later  she  was  in  the  Subway  again, 
bound  for  the  upper  parts  of  the  city.  She  sat  deep 
in  thought  as  her  train  sped  northward,  remember- 
ing from  other  days  the  fact  that  Shindler  had 
once  been  a  "nmner"  for  the  Deutsche  Waff  en  Mu- 
nitions Gesellschaft.  This  brought  her  other  equally 
disturbing  thoughts,  and  she  did  not  look  up  until 
her  train  stopped  at  the  Grand  Central  Station. 

Then  she  suddenly  shrank  lower  in  her  scU,  be- 
tween -  crowding  shoulders  on  either  sx^t  of  her, 
like  a  snail  into  its  shell.  For  walking  slowly  along 
the  platform  with  his  habitual  air  of  aimless  vacuity 
she  caught  sight  of  Shindler  himself. 

There,  not  thirty  feet  away  from  her,  she  had 


236        THE  DOOR  W  MEAD 

the  dubious  triumph  of  beholding  the  one  man  in  all 
the  world  she  had  the  least  desire  to  ec  For  Shind- 
Icr  and  Strasscr,  »he  very  well  knew,  were  one  and 
the  fiame  man. 

If  for  a  moment  Sadie  shrank  unconsciously  back 
bctv  her  fellow-travelers,  a.  liie  sight  'f  that 
disturbingly  familiar  figure,  ho  scriH  ly  ^f  the  giutr 
tleman  in  quest ''on  was  none  the  less  pointed. 

Three  years,  she  noticed,  had  w<  "-kcd  considerable 
change  wit^  him,  more  tl  an  h  r  study  of  Kestner's 
[Washington  sna[>shot  h  i  led  her  t*^  anti<  ipate.  He 
had  plainly  lost  a  ponderalile  part  o  '  his  old-t  me 
jauntineas.  His  dr  ot  innocuous  perKiness  seenu^d 
no  longer  a  part  of  him.  ic  appeared  more  like  i 
mask,  put  on  to  cone  al  the  fact  that  t  wr  a 
hounded  and  harried  man  uncertain  <  i  t)  e  future. 
He  now  wore  eye-glasses,  she  s  ^  ^  pa  of  tt  r- 
toise-shell  "blinkers"  which  furtli  ui        ^  s 

true  appearance  by  giving  hu  i  an  a  jf 
occupation.  That  beguiling  an  u  ari} 
stoop  of  his  was  m  re  accentuated  than  of  -  1 
as  he  moved  along  the  crowded  tform  car  ig 
a  yeUov  han44)ag  ^asied  with  gr  ie  he  seemed 
waatfy  m  haasemmu  mad  neutaii  latted  uUsea 


TUL  DOOR  OF  DREAQ 


237 


ready  to  mergt  inconivkuotislf  itito  hit  btdk- 
groma  of  neutraktialed  rmrynioca.  Yet  SMndtef 
hiintdf,  Sa€ii€lcfiew»wa8notiiiiUI»tliednl>4iveried 
water>m<xcssiii,  in  being  quite  as  Ttndent  at  he  wu 
se?f-€f{adi^.  Thnt  vas  a  part  of  fait  effecthrcnett. 

By  tkb  t»^^  had  odlected  her  witt  and 
started  fo*  e  do  -  Yet  before  the  ^pped  from 
the  car  plat  m  made  a  aeoond  aiiu  even  more 
disconceriiiig  .lit  ity.  Movh^  aindefify  along 
tlffcmg  ^  ever-stiifting  owd,  with  air  of  a 
mm  tad  no  object  in  view  and  no  oMoa  hi 
Ule  \^aBadihinitelf  oasied  withtBtesleetof  her. 
M  i  she  leaew,  at  a  i^anoe,  that  Wibi^H  wM  ahad- 
owmg  Shiodter. 

m;  rfattwd,  at  the  merged  into  .  "iwd  and 
ed  discreetly  after  them,  that  her  ^  teemed 

i(i  nly  to  foctM  and  centraKie  on  .^ute  two 
itrangely  divergent  yet  alatnuni^  oontigiiotit 
ures. 

The  dioiii^  of  dieir  coming  togedwr  did  aot  add 
to  her  peace  of  mind  SUndler,  the  knew,  wat  a 
o^iod  dodg^.  I^ie  hai^  m  &e  past,  cHCOuirtmd 
orJy  too  many  prooft  of  that.  And  if  hi  the  twmilt 
of  her  teethmg  ikde  brate  any  one  defi^  idea 
aoni^  articdation,  it  wat  ^  frantic  hc^e  that 


238        THE  POOR  QV.  PREAD. 

Shindler  would  once  again  prove  himself  the  mtstcr 
of  flight  that  he  had  seemed  in  his  earlier  days. 

But  Sadie  did  not  intend  to  leave  things  to  diance. 
There  was  too  much  at  stake  and  already  that 
strangely  incongruous  couple  were  slipping  beyond 
her  sphere  of  observation.  So  she  storted  wwlutdy 
in  pursuit. 

Shindler  she  could  no  longer  see.  But  there  wai 
no  mistaking  Wiknach  as  he  slowly  and  with  dtb- 
prate  carelessness  mounted  the  steps  that  led  above- 
ground.  She  hurried  after  him,  once  he  had  turned 
the  comer,  but  in  Forty-second  Street  she  hdd  back 
again,  guardedly  watching  her  confederate  as  he 
ambled  across  the  car-tracks  and  passed  eastward 
in  front  of  the  Belmont.  Still  farther  eastward  she 
could  now  make  out  the  figure  of  the  man  with  the 
"blinkers"  and  the  yellow  hand-bag. 

So  she  followed  discreetly  after  them,  keeping  to 
the  north  side  of  the  street.  She  clung  to  the  trail 
with  the  casual  nonchalance  of  an  expert  "tailer," 
taking  advantage  of  any  bit  of  cover  that  offered 
and  falling  promptly  back  when  she  found  the  thin- 
ning stream  of  pedestrians  no  kmger  a  veil  between 
her  and  her  quarry. 

Then  she  suddenly  stepped  and  wheeled  about, 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  239 


for  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street.tlie  had  seen 
Wilsnadi  do  the  tune.  Swnotioed,  as  sbe  bent  over 
a  corner  news-st«nd  and  inspected  the  second  edi- 
tion of  an  evening  paper  whose  ink  was  quite  dry 
before  mid-dajr,  that  the  nan  with  the  leather  hand- 
bag had  swung  about  and  was  retracing  his  steps 
westward.  Sosheleisurdjrandaindesdjrparcliased 
a  newspaper* 

Wilsnadi,  as  the  coepajr  cssagred  Us  doubling 
movement,  tamed  and  stared  interestedly  through 
a  plate-i^ass  window  at  a  seductive  array  of  ninety- 
cent  outing^hirts.  ^Then  he  feisupdy  entered  tfia 
store  itsdf. 

Siin&r  most  have  seen  that  rooveraent,  Sadie 
promptly  surmised,  for  he  lost  no  time  in  taking  ad- 
vantage of  a  dear  field.  He  dndEed  for  a  cross- 
town  car,  walked  throa||i  it  and  quickly  jumped 
aboard  aaodicr  cur  novhig  westward.  Wilsmidi, 
emerging  into  Uie  open,  haded  a  taxicab  ttid  plainly 
stancu  m  pursuit. 

That  cross  town  stream  of  traffic  was  too  tw]^ 
to  permit  of  Sadie's  eye  f o8owhig  any  one  partic»> 
lar  tmit  She  saw  the  twhi  rows  of  cars  stop  and 
start  and  stop  again,  and  At  woBdewd  if  k  tiM 
coniplfiitki  of  to  tkmsind  wlis<kd  movement 


240        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD. 

Shindlcr  could  still  make  his  escape.  But  the  taxi- 
cab  that  held  Wilsnach,  she  could  see,  had  ahready 
passed  on  to  the  west  of  Fifth  Avenue. 

Sadie  hovered  about  the  news-stand  for  an  ir- 
resolute moment  or  two  and  then  started  westward. 
She  stood  back  in  the  shadow  of  a  Subway  kiodc 
to  wait  for  a  Madison  Avenue  surface-car  to  swing 
about  into  Vanderbilt,  when  on  the  opposite  comer, 
emerging  demurely  and  quietly  from  the  grill  of  the 
Manhattan,  she  caught  sight  of  a  figure  wearing  tor- 
toise-shell "Winkers"  and  carrying  a  yellow  hand- 
bag. 

It  was  Shindler.  She  at  once  turned  about  and 
descended  the  Subway  steps,  wondering  whether 
or  not  this  figure  was  destined  to  come  down  the 
same  underground  passage  that  for  the  moment 
concealed  her. 

As  soon  as  she  felt  reasonably  assured  that  this 
was  not  to  be  the  case,  she  hurriedly  retraced  her 
steps.  By  the  time  she  reached  the  street  Shindicr 
was  well  past  the  kiosk  and  was  now  walking  def- 
initely eastward.  He  was  doing  so  with  a  quite  un- 
looked  for  briskness  of  step. 

Sadie,  still  carrying  her  news^xaper,  followed  him. 
She  continued  to  follow  him  as  he  turned  southward 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAQ 


241 


again.  She  did  not  hesitate  until  she  saw  him  stop 
before  the  entrance  of  one  of  those  shabbier  side- 
street  hoteb  which  are  little  more  than  bed-houses 
with  bar-room  attachments.  She  was  well  within 
a  steltering  doorway  as  he  stood  looking  sharply 
back  along  the  almost  empty  thoroughfare.  Then 
he  made  a  dive  for  his  warren. 

S»iie  stood  there  for  several  moments.  Then, 
once  her  jSan  of  action  was  formulated,  she  swung 
west  and  north  again  to  Forty-second  Street.  Near 
the  comer  of  Madison  Avenue  she  dipped  into  a 
trunk-shop,  bought  a  cheap  rattan  suit-case  and 
swung  back  eastward  again.  At  the  Grand  Cen- 
tral news-stand  she  bought  seven  magazines,  the 
bulkiest  she  could  find,  and  half  a  dozen  newspapers. 
These  die  stowed  away  in  the  suit-case,  concluding 
this  to  be  the  quickest  way  to  give  it  sufficient  weight 
for  a  lady  traveling  light.  Then  she  promptly  pro- 
ceeded to  the  squalid  caravansary,  whose  only  splen- 
dor was  its  brightly  gilded  brewery  sign,  where 
Shindler  had  already  installed  himself. 

She  was  given  a  room,  together  with  many  hea- 
vily inquiring  glances,  on  the  third  floor.  She  was 
oblhrious  of  both  its  meager  furniture  and  its  un- 
kempt condition,  for  once  she  was  akme  she  placed 


242        THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD 


herself  on  sentry  duty  at  her  slightly  opened  door. 
Then,  growing  bolder,  she  ventured  into  fhe  many- 
odored  hallway  and  explored  it  from  end  to  end. 
A  study  of  the  room-nmnbers  as  she  did  so  con- 
vinced her  of  the  fact  that  the  figures  which  she 
had  seen  opposite  the  name  of  Strasser  on  the  do|^> 
eared  register  implied  he  had  been  g^ven  a  room 
on  the  floor  below.- 

3o  she  returned  to  her  quarters,  got  her  suit-case 
and  her  door-key  and  went  boldly  down  to  the  of- 
fice. There  she  demanded  a  larger  room.  She  was 
proffered  one  with  a  bath,  but  it  would  cost  her  a 
dollar  more.  Sadie,  when  she  learned  this  was  on 
the  second  floor,  took  it  without  hesitatk».  She 
even  went  so  far  as  to  allay  official  sn^idon  by 
paying  for  it  in  advance. 

Yet  she  knew,  as  At  made  her  way  up  to  this 
room,  that  the  hardest  part  of  her  work  was  stifl 
ahead  of  her.  She  knew,  as  she  took  off  her  gkives 
and  her  absurd  bunch  of  hotfaome  vioiets,  diat  she 
could  not  expect  luck  to  come  her  way  twice  in  the 
same  morning. 

Her  success,  she  decided,  wouU!  have  to  depend 
on  her  own  initiative.  So  she  waited  besicfe  her 
slightly  opened  door,  as  patioit  as  a  farm-oollit 


THE  DOOR  of:  dread 


243 


above  a  wood-chuck's  hole.  To  wait  and  watch,  in 
fact,  seemed  the  only  thing  left  for  her  to  do. 

It  was  a  long  quarter  of  an  hour  before  she  was 
rewarded  with  any  sound  from  that  immediate 
neighborhood.  But  the  sound,  in  this  case,  was 
Shindler*s  o\  n  voice.  Narrowing  her  door-crack, 
she  could  see  him  standing  in  his  own  doorway, 
three  rooms  to  the  right  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
hall,  frugally  ordering  a  pitcher  of  beer  and  a  cheese 
sandwich.  As  of  old,  he  spoke  suavely  and  softly, 
Mflth  an  intonation  that  seemed  almost  plaintive. 

Sadie  waited  until  the  slatternly  bell-boy  had  dis- 
appeared. Then  she  stepped  out  into  the  hallway, 
closed  her  door  behind  her,  and  walked  quietly  to 
the  room  which  she  knew  to  be  harboring  Shindler. 

On  the  door  of  this  room,  after  waiting  for  a  mo- 
ment or  two,  she  quietly  knocked.  A  preoccupied 
voice  from  within  said  "Come!"  Takmg  a  deeper 
bitath,  she  opened  the  door  and  stepped  into  the 
room. 

Bending  over  a  chair,  on  which  stood  the  opened 
yellow  hand-bag,  was  Shindler.  His  coat  was  off 
and  he  was  gazing  with  studious  abstraction  at  some 
unknown  object  in  the  interior  of  the  bag.  He 
sighed  pensively  as  he  turned  «k>w]y  about  He 


244        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

»»iaed  one  hmi4^  as  though  to  run  it  through  his 
diini'iliiii  ai^  grotesquely  thinning  cow-lick.  But 
the  iiwpvwiiwit  m»  arrested  m  mid-air. 

Tor  Hat  km  o*  Gawd  r*  he  slowly  ejaculated. 

Sad«  viewd  him  with  apparent  tmconcem. 

••Don't  Iht  ae  butt  hi  on  yoor  ui^jaddnT  she 
sniho^  aMKMooed. 

Ht  floei  stifl  stariiqr  at  her.  'Astonishment  r  Ji 
at  hia  oo«id  not  be  swallowed  whole. 

"I  tfcon^— bought  you  were  m  Budapest  1"  was 
his  pha%  hMdeqaatecKdamation. 

Sadie's  %ctiried  with  scorn. 

"YohnMMi  yuh  left  tat  theier  she  amended. 

Um  taOdfy  absUaeled  tym  took  cn  a  look  of 
troobte. 

•1  had  Ac  danerof  beatm'  it  or  bem'  gathered 

in.  Somtaaaafylkeatitr 
•Thaf*  mte  nwit  yeia  dawgs 'd  dor 
She  coold  see  tha  haUtaally  nikl  ^yes  harden  a 

little; 

•That's  «Mo£m  wi^to  teSc  to  your  husband  I" 
Sadie  ^ood  form  aeeood  or  two  with  her  eyes 

closed,  aa  Aaogh  her  body  Ind  sustained  a  blow 

which  bewildered  even  her  mmd. 

ynh  sat^  were  that  partic'lar  kind  of 


THE  IXKDR  of;  DREAQ  245 

a  hiisb«i4"  ahe  finally  retorted.  She  atepped  ove- 
do^-tohhn.  -^uli  were  a  crook  when  yuhro  . 
me  into  marryin'  yiih.  and  yah  made  me  a  crook 
Yuh  kiOed  any  diaact  I  ew  had  o*  bem*  decent. 
Yah  were  reaify  to  iwe  me  for  your  dirty  work. 
Yah  made  me  hito  a  giaMaoa.  Yah  didn't  even 
stop—" 

But  he  cot  her  diort 

*Di<to'tIkeq>yoaffom8tarvhi'?  And  didn't  I 
8pen4  on  ytm  when  I  had  it  to  spend?" 

"Yes;  yah  lit  me  tq>  like  to  alkiight  drug-store  I 
B« yah dkl a wif atdea money.  Andwhcnigot 
your  mmiber  jn*  tried  to  lie  yoor  way  out  of  it 
And  when  trouble  came  yuh  dkl  more  than  show 
yow  heeb  ia«  a  houiid-^  were  ao  white-livered 

yiA  pl«»ted  Aa«  Bafariaa  fort-map.  in  me  trunk 
and  left  ma  to  £Me  the  rnuifc  r 

"They'd  htire  ihot  me-H»d  ^  dotft  k)ok  like  they 
did  much  to  your 

"And  when  yuh  thoQ^  I  im  off  the  map."  went 
<«  the  tdeatleii^  Sadi^  ^  tj^^  ^.^ 

tapper's  whiowf  And  Aen  yiA— *• 

•WaAea.e  of  rydtfaflAatupr  suddenly 
^  wrinktoi4)row«|  man  confronting 
w.  ft  was  not  ai^  to  hb  hi^)5fcm, 


246        THE  DOOR  QF  DREAD 


"There's  a  lot  of  use  in  it.  They  tell  me  this 
ain't  a  good  country  for  bigamists.  Mebbe  it  ain't. 
But  I  know  that  wit*  things  as  they  arc  it's  an  awful 
tmhealthy  climate  for  spy-work !" 

Shindler  stood  eying  her  for  several  moments 
of  utter  silence. 

"What  do  you  want,  any  way?"  he  finally  de- 
manded. 

"I  wantta  know  just  what  yuh're  goin'  to  do 
about  it!" 

The  man  in  the  "blinkers"  sat  down  in  the  chair 
beside  the  many-stained  table  on  which  ^ood  a 
crockery  ash-receiver,  a  highly  lithographed  tray 
advertising  a  German  beer,  and  a  melancholy  plas- 
ter-of-Paris  statuette  of  Columbus  without  a  head. 

"What  are  you  goin*  to  do  about  it?"  Shindler 
inquired.  Behind  his  beguiling  air  of  pensiveness, 
by  this  time,  was  the  craftiness  of  the  professicmal 
criminal  declining  to  be  cornered. 

Sadie  Wimpel  also  sat  down.  Shindler,  she  knew, 
was  not  so  guileless  an  enemy  as  he  appeared.  And 
she  was  equally  aware  of  the  fact  that  her  steps 
would  have  to  be  picked  with  caution. 

"What's  your  graft  these  days?"  she  calmly  in- 
quired. 


JHE  DOOR  of;  dread  247 

"WhaftyoonriieMkri,  at  hit  roving  eye  made 

•n  inventory  of  her  ootwMd  apparel  Hit  sardonic 

approval  of  that  appMd  only  teemed  to  anger  her. 
She  gave  no  exprettton  to  that  anger,  however,  for 

a  knock  toonded  on  the  door  and  brou^  a  tudden 
chill  about  her  heart  where  the  tightneat  of  the  steel 
blue  tailor^nade  had  ahtady  eetablithed  certain 
vague  ditoomf ortt. 

She  taw.  to  her  relief,  Aat  it  wat  nw^  the  slat- 
ternly m-hoy  with  a  pitdier  of  beer  and  a  cheese 

sandwich.  SKndler,  after  mspecting  the  tray,  sent 
for  a  second  giatt. 

"You  teem  to  be  on  Eav  Street."  he  continued, 
as  the  boy  took  hit  dqiartQit. 

"Are  yidir*  Sadie  <<»tt«t.Mfed. 

"I'm  gom'  to  bi^  or  I'm  goin'  to  know  the  tea- 
sonwhy.^watShmdkr'tietort  For  the  first  time 
he  spoke  with  a  peic^tible  trace  oi  pattkm. 

"It'U  never  be  in  thit  bmi;'*  mn„»n^ 

'my  won't  itr  he  demanded. 

"  Yuh  know^  Abe.  rm  a  kind  of  a  attrologcr  and 
dairvoywrt  thete  *ort.  Thaf  t  me  pnrfetdon,  this 
*a»on.  And  rv«  been  leadhfyow  start,  and  they 
sure  say  ytdi're  goin*  to  travel  r 

There  wat  a  toodi  of  aeom  hi  Ut  toiie; 


248        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


"You're  dead  certain  of  that  ?**  he  quietly  inquired. 

*Tm  dead  certain  of  it,"  was  her  equally  impas- 
•iverq>ly.  "Yuh're  goin' to  slip  over  to  the  Grand 
Central  this  afternoon  and  get  the  first  train  oat  o' 
this  town  for  Montreal  And  from  there  ytdi're 
goin'  to  heat  it  hack  to  Europe!" 

"And  what's  goin'  to  make  me  do  that?" 

"Ahi't  yuh  hep  to  the  fact  that  yuh've  been  tailed 
for  the  hut  three  weeks?" 

Shhidler  hius^ied. 

"I've  been  tailed  for  the  last  three  years— and  I'm 
still  wearin'  my  hair  long,  ain't  I?"  He  suddenly 
tnmed  about  on  her.  "But  why're  you  so  keen  about 
gettin'  me  off  to  the  other  side  again?" 

She  realized,  in  view  of  the  gulfs  that  yawned 
between  tiiem,  the  newer  things  that  Wilsnadi  had 
brought  into  her  life. 

"Abe,  I'm  goin'  to  be  Iftmest  wtf  yuh.  I've  a 
gen'l'man  friend  here  who's  the  right  sort  I  thifde 
a  good  deal  o'  that  man.  And  some  day  he's  goin* 
to  think  a  good  deal  o'  me— if  I  can  ever  get  a  chance 
o'  sbowin'  him  I  wantta  travel  in  his  tiassf 

"And  it  am't  my  dassr  was  Shindler's  sneering 
demand. 

"Your  dass ?  If  he  ever  found  out  I'd  hitched  up 


THE  DOOR  op  DREAD  249 

wit'  a  polecat  like  yuh,  ifd  ture  adce  him  teiu 
sickf 

Shindler's  scrutiny  of  her  impasdw  fac*  was  in- 
terruptcd  by  the  boy  with  the  glass. 

"So  you're  ashamed  o'  me?"  he  penaivdy  coo- 
plained. 

Jm  ashamed  o'  myself,"  solemnly  acknowledged 
Sadie  Wimpel.  'Tm  so  ashamed  o' myself  that  I'm 
^^^bstakeyuhtoacahinp^ 

Shindler  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  with  the 
glass  m  his  hand.  "Ain't  you  kind  of  knockin'  your 
ownhome<ircle?"  he  inquired.  But  behind  that 
vehrety  mask,  Sadie  knew,  there  was  the  fire  of  a 
rage  that  burned  all  the  fiercer  f or  hemg  idf swi. 
stnning'. 

"I  am't  knockin'  yuh-««//,-„  could  knock  yuh  I 
I  m  blamin'  myself  for  ever  bein'  so  blind  and  foot. 
»3h  as  to  hitch  up  vif  a  cur  like  yuh.  I  didn't  know 
^  then,  but  I  should've  known  better'n  that.  I 

WW  Padolsky  over  m  Odessa  the  ««e  -  KmM 
tolled  Eichendorff  I  I  didn't— " 

"Cut  that  outi"  Shindler  suddenly  harked.  Hit 
iVoice  was  as  sharp  as  a  pi^'.  ye^ 


250        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


"That's  what  I  intend  to  do— cut  the  whole  busi- 
ness out." 

Shindler's  sneer  was  not  a  pretty  one. 

"That  don't  make  your  record  over.  I  guess 
there's  more  than  me  between  you  and  your  kid- 
glove  friend  I" 

It  was  Sadie's  turn  to  show  passion. 

**No,  there  ain't!  There's  no  man  livin'  got  a 
ckubn  on  mc — exceptin'  yuh,  and  I  don't  reckon  yuh 
as  a  manf* 

**WelI,  there's  one  thing  you  can  reckon  on  1" 
•mat's  that?" 

•TTttt  I  don't  go  to  Cherbourg." 
•Then  yuh  go  up  the  River  to  the  Big  House  V* 
He  looked  at  her  quietly,  with  the  beer-pitcher  in 
his  hand.  So  impassive  v/ere  their  attitudes  that  an 
outsider,  conten^Uiting  them  through  the  window, 
might  have  accepted  their  talk  as  an  exchange  of 
mere  conjugal  commonplaces.  And  such,  Sadie 
suddenly  remembered,  they  were — for  Shindler's 
career  had  been  made  up  of  revolt  and  crime  and 
evasion. 

••Whatll  send  me     to  the  Big  House?"  he  was 
casually  inquiring. 
"I  may  be  a  purfessional  clairvoyant,  Abe,  but  J 


jH£  POM  m  tmum 

don't  need  to  go  into  no  trance  to  «lig  out  what  yuh 
and  Nitro  Charlie  ve  been  tryin'  to  cook  up  this  last 
two  weeks!  And  Charlie'd  sure  take  it  hard,  after 
lootin'  that  launch-full  of  lona  Island  powder,  to 
know  yuh  were  hangin*  the  Indian  sign  on  him  for 
the  chance  o'  doin'  a  little  §ty<atti%*  ioc  Ktudfll 
and  his  gang  f" 

Shindler  slowly  replaced  his  beer-jug. 

"Whafre  you  ragin*  about,  anyway?"  he  de- 
manded.  But  his  Wink  was  one  of  bewilderment, 
bewilderment  at  her  (Con^prehoMoa  of  hit  BBBIud 
den  secrets. 

"There's  a  Servi*^  nian  or  two  who'd  sure  be  in- 
terested to  know  J  jsi  -^-bat  yuh  found  out  about 
them  ccast-defense  - Indian  Head,  and  Ihtm 
mortars  at  Fort  Moiir  v 

Shindler  quite  as  slowly  sat  down  beside  t.'M. 
He  did  not  look  at  Sadie  Wimpel.  His  vacantly 
ruminative  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  two  empty  beer 
glasses  in  front  of  him,  toyed  idJy,  as  he  sat 
there,  with  a  seal  ring  on  his  finger,  twisting  it 
nervously  round  and  round.  And  Sadie,  as  she  sat 
studying  him,  remembered  that  he  was  alwa^ 
virulent  when  he  was  most  passive. 
Through  the  gray  misU  of  memoiy,  loc^  m  pte 


252 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD. 


sat  regarding  htm,  ttwrs  cum  to  Iwr  tht  impwulon 
that  ihe  had  witnessed  this  scene  befon,  or  some 
scene  mysteriously  akin  to  it  Then  thfoo^  tiiete 
mists,  like  sunlight  through  fog,  came  the  key  to  the 
comckknce.  It  came  with  the  thin  remembrance 
of  something  she  had  not  thoii|^  or  heard  of,  for 
several  long  years.  It  was  some  ghostly  memoiy  of 
a  ghostly  rumor  that  Shindler's  ring  was  a  ''trick" 
ring.  Once,  when  happy  with  hotrin,  he  had  ex- 
plained its  theft  from  tha  taktrtu  of  a  murdered 
coke-snuffcr  in  Bourdeaux.  And  ht  had  t^rttd 
that  inside  its  tiny  sliding  panel  vas  anqite  i^aoe 
for  enough  chloral  hydrate  for  a  knodc-oot 

Shindler  laughed  a  little  as  he  turned  toward  tht 
Uble.  But  Sadie  was  so  hmiiy  alert  that  her  mm- 
ends  began  to  tingle. 

"So  that's  how  the  hnd  &tr  ht  Mid,  at  be 
sbwiy  proceeded  to  fill  the  two  cnplyilaMt.  Sa^ 
watched  him  from  under  bar  dtomirdy  ^ncsgiag 
eyelids.  Adeptly  as  the  move  was  mtdt,  tht  had 
the  satisfaction  of  seeng  tht  ckwd  of  wMttih 
powder  sift  down  into  the  second  i^ati.  Tht  tiioai^ 
of  his  suavt  dtpcnrity  tkkntd  btr.  But  ibt  wat 
determined  to  act  out  her  part 

Ht  ihnmd  at  ht  hMrfad  htr  tht  iMb  tha^ 


THE  DOOR  OF,  DWLAD^  253 


his  face  was  still  wrinkled  witii  ilt 

tuous  laughter. 

"Say,  kid,  we  can't  afford  to  %bt,  ut  twor  he 

protested. 

••We  ain't  goin'  to  fight  f"  announced  Sadie. 

"Then  don't  you  lose  any  sleep  about  me  tryin* 
to  butt  in  on  your  love-affidn.  I  gam  I've  got 
troubles  of  my  own  1" 

Sadie  noticed  that  he  eyed  her  dasely  as  she  lifted 
the  beer  to  her  lips  and  made  a  pretense  of  drinkiog 

it.  Then  she  put  down  the  glm  with  a  iBddeiiilww 

of  anger. 

"But  yuh  can't  help  buttin'  into  my  affairs  so  long 
as  yuh're  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  And  if  yuh 
stay  another  two  days  in  thii  bttff  yidi'f«  to 
butt  into  Sing-Sing  r 

"Who'll  put  me  there?"  once  more  demanded 
Shindler.  He  wat  collected  enough  to  light  a  e^ 


ette. 
II' 


•The  guy  who  wat  tailin*  yuh  1^  to  h»U  an  ho«r 

agor 

She  could  see  Shindler'i  face  imiliag  throi^  the 

smoke-cloud. 

"Well,  I  guess  I'm  ready  for  that  guy,"  he  — - 
nounced.  Sadie  watched  him  a*  i 


254        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


to  the  open  hand-bag.  Asheitoapedovcrthialiaad- 
baf  and  carefnUy  lifted  lonietliing  from  k  lier  hand 
dwt  out  and  the  glass  of  beer  it  hdd  was  poured 
into  the  headless  statute  of  Cohtmbos  thai  stood  at 
the  center  of  the  taUe. 

Then  she  lounged  back  in  her  chair  and  held  the 
emptied  ghus  to  her  lips.  As  Shin^  slowly 
walked  toward  her  she  was  apparently  engaged  in 
drainhiff  the  Uut  of  her  driidc.  So  iatm  was  At 
on  this  maneuver  that  she  did  not  at  first  notice 
what  Shindkr  had  taken  from  his  bag. 

But  as  he  {daced  it  careft^  on  the  taUe  die  saw 
that  it  was  a  tin  box  about  five  faMlKs  high  and  some 
eight  hicfaes  hmg.  To  one  end  of  it  waa  wind  a  bit 
of  mechanism  that  boked  like  a  smaU  dedi  wlilniii 
its  metal  canng. 

She  blinked  up  at  SlikiiSkr  as  the  tetlw  tmmi 
over  it  and  stutd  down  kno  har  ftMi.  / 

"That's  what  yorar  gum-^  mm  is  goki'  to  tail 
into!"  he  amoMMsd. 

The  girl  put  kar  tmpty  |^  down  oa  Ab  table- 
edge.  She<adita^inwtwidi^. 

'mat  is  It?^  she  aM  M  she  mlM  htr  fof«. 

head  For  tka  attend  ttefhkii^tniMttfyfiiidied 
hnr  face. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

•Tf •  •  pound  toNcco-box  packed  with  something 
to  pot  Mn  asleep.  It's  packed  with  a  damned  sight 
■tfooger  brand  o'  goncDtton  than  ever  came  off  lona 
Island.  And  tbit  neat  little  alarm-clock  works,  you 
Me»  haa  m  piaee  of  picture-wire  tied  to  a  wheel-shaft 
here,  ao  tliat  aa  it  winds  up  it  pulls  the  cork  out  of 
a  bottle  of  iu^ttric  add  inside  the  box.  That  does 
the  trick.  And  if  you  get  inquisitive,  and  tiy  to 
open  the  boac  tint  also  does  the  trick !" 

Sadie  waa  Uaak»g  tomnolently  back  in  her  chair. 
"What  trickr  the  demanded  with  vacuous  eyes. 

Sbin^  emitted  a  small  sigh  of  satisfaction. 
Then  he  Hiked  ^  thi  box  carefully  back  into  his 
Then  be  turned  and  faced  the  woman 


"Aren't  jnn  le^  aU  right?"  he  innocently  in- 
quired. 

IW-Tm  fiwrr  she  murmured,  as  she  made 
an  affoft  to  grope  ineffectually  for  the  table-edge. 
"t  §Hm  jmh'd—ytdi'd  better  get  me  outta  here !" 

fl^ttlMtr,  iKmtver,  made  no  immediate  m-ive  to 
fH  hw  oM  of  there.  Ht  did  not  even  deign  to  an- 
•IWIf  h§f.  He  i^ared  for  a  moment  d*nvn  at  her 
fatrt  figure.  Then  he  crossed  to  the  shabby  oak 
^Mlii  at  the  far  i^dt  of  the  room  and  totM  lit 


256        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


few  worn  toilet  articles  wh^  he  had  to  reoeotly 
unpacked.  Thcte  he  ddiberatdy  and  tlowljr  jacM 
awi^  n  tiw  hand  tif  He  next  looked  itwSoiii|f 
about  ^roon,  to  aNkemfi#iatnothfaif  had  been 
forgotten.  Then  he  pot  on  h»  cost,  took  np  hit 
hat  and  the  hand-bag  and  wafieed  toward  the  door. 

Sadie  a»ald  hear  ite  M  ha  teak  tfte  kejr  from  the 
k>ck.  ^oonkl  idiolMtrte^Bor  behind  her  open 
anddoee.  She  ^  not  ntta  Iter  head,  but  Ae  was 
tiiinkii^badi  haedantfte.  Ste  knew  that  wkhin 
the  next  ndmila  ar  two  At  aHU  wmA  a  dnitfen, 
and  ahe  knew  only  ie»  tfnn  tMa  dedakxi  woidd 
beamoiTOBtoM— ihikwl^  SUaSkt,lSmVt^ 
of  dodfen^  waa  iwiMwg  a— if  of  Ue  fd-awaya. 
Wain't  mm,  ika  iriiai  wife  her  whappy  eod, 
best tfMf that cadMhiVpen to hhtt?  Andtohtr? 
Woakki*t  w%  maka  thinp  cate  lor  herf 
Vtaikhi^  feet  iplva  her  a  fi^hliny  ehMoa  wMi  ^^to" 

nack,  tkaighfeiKdHaeafeit  avnydMtnt  fhd  oi^ 
to  have? 

She  rolkd  her  head  to  one  side.  Ska  made  mra, 
aa  she  did  10,  that  fee  feoai  was  empty.  Then,  aa 
rfie  sat  iy  and  owi  at  fee  two  emp^  beer  gtimi, 
another  qwnkwi  came  to  her.  What  eodtf  ika  tei 


THE  POOR  OF  DREA£^  2^ 

Kotmr?  And  what  would  Wilsnach  say?  And 
how  moch  ^  eitlier  of  them  already  know? 

SkM  fdt  mre,  the  next  moment,  that  she  could 
never  He  to  then.  And  she  knew  that  she  could 
new  itwt  to  go  straight  by  crooked  thinking.  She 
WM  in  the  Service,  and  that  meant  being  on  the  side 
of  the  Uw,  tad  tfie  Uw  meant  truth.  She  was  on 
«  ca«  for  Kestner.  What  that  case  meant  in  all 
its  complexities,  she  could  not  quite  understand. 
But  the  hMl  her  part  to  play.  She  had  to  stick  to 
Shindler.  by  hook  or  crook,  to  the  bitter  end.  She 
had  to  etick  to  him,  no  matter  what  it  cost.  And 
Wihnadi,  when  he  found  out  what  he  found  out, 
coidd  «^  tad  think  what  he  liked. 
Tht  atxt  flMOMnt  the  was  on  her  feet,  straighten- 
her  hrt  and  cnaying  a  furtive  dab  or  two  at  her 
«Me.  She  ikook  down  her  rumpled  skirt  as  she 
cfoieed  At  fww  to  the  door.  Then  a  gasp  of  dis- 
omy faieke  ffooi  her,  for  Shindler,  she  found,  had 
quietly  hxked  this  door  behind  him. 

She  ckneltd  M  about  the  room  in  search  of  a 
^IjPhone.  Bot  there  was  none.  She  found  a  push- 
M«.  Witt  a  printed  card  of  directions,  and  slie  was 
tryinf  to  decipher  these  when  she  heard  the  sound 


258        THE  DCX)R  OF  DRBAI^ 


of  buffjiflf  stc|M  in  th€  biUwi^  withoot»  And  At 
next  Bwimnt  ctsot  tht  rattle  of  a  key  in  tiw  lode 
Tint oonldnietnottljr one fh^.  liwatSkkidhr 

Qtitcic  M  n  cttf  fbe  lank  onoe  mora  iirto  her  dmir 
beside  the  table,  with  her  arms  outspread  and  her 
face  flat  on  the  tiwr  stiiiwd  wooden  surface  srippled 
with  dfarette-bnrat.  She  scarcely  braathed  as  she 
heard  tiie  door  behind  her  o|ien  and  a  qoide  st^  or 
two  croesthe  roMn. 

Then  out  of  the  siloioe  and  quite  dose  to  her  die 
heardnvoice.  And  die  knew  it  was  tiie 'voice  of 
WnsnadL 

''Good  God,  if  s  Sadie  r  die  heard  hhn  w 
He  dropped  on  one  knee  beskle  her  and  she  codd 
fed  bis  htfid  ayilt^  htrbody,  with  an  h^enrogatofy 
toodi  on  ^  wrbt  and  the  quick  pressura  of  a  finfer 
agahist  her  node  artery,  u  tiiough  to  nid»  rara  her 
heart  was  stSlbcadnf.  Then  he  lifted  her  face  and 

"Sadie,  what  is  it?  Whafa  the  nu^r  he  cried 
in  nm^^ed  dam  and  pity* 

Bm  aanie  wepc  ner  ^yes  cnaeo,  noranatt^  in  ma 
eonsdousness  that  to  arm  was  aboirt  h»  and  hail 
hf^ding  h^  i;^  that  Us  band  was  brushing  her  tern- 


THE  DOOK  OP  I»EAD  2S9 

pie  and  his  breath  fanning  her  cheek.  And  it  wai 
equally  consoling  to  know  that  the  thought  of  calam- 
ity to  her  could  bring  anything  like  a  feeling  of 
consternation  to  him.  He  was  fumbling  at  the  neck 
of  her  dress,  by  this  time,  trying  to  loosen  it  And 
even  the  absurd  movements  of  his  fiiigers  engaged 
in  that  absurd  mission  were  not  altogether  dtaagitt* 
able  to  her. 

"Sadie,  speak  to  me!"  he  implored. 
But  Sadie  entertained  no  intention  of  speaking  to 
him.  To  do  that  would  end  a  situation  which  might 
never  come  again.  So  Sadie  kept  her       dnt  and 
made  the  most  of  it. 

Wilsnach,  as  he  stared  down  into  her  face,  felt 
the  injustice  of  it  all.  It  was  not  the  kind  of  work 
into  which  any  woman  should  have  been  dragged. 
Sadie,  he  knew,  was  not  like  other  women.  But  still 
it  was  not  quite  fair  to  her.   He  felt  more  than 
sorry  for  her:  he  felt  under  a  tremendous  debt  of 
gratitude  to  her.  She  had  stood  by  him  in  more  than 
one  crisis.  Slie  had,  in  fact,  never  failed  him.  Her 
companionship  had  come  to  mean  a  great  deal  to 
him.  She  was  a  quick-witted  and  a  big-hearted  girl 
who'd  never  been  given  a  chance.  And  there  was 
something  about  her  that  he  liked,  and  likMl  a  lot 


260        THE  DOOR  O?  DRIAQ 


Wilsnach,  as  he  held  her  there,  leaned  down  and 
did  a  very  human  but  a  very  indiscreet  thing.  He 
pressed  his  lips  against  the  full  red  iips  that  were 
so  close  to  his  own.  And  it  startled  him  a  little  to 
find  them  quite  warm  and  the  pressure  of  them 
against  his  own  a  sensation  tliat  was  vmexpectedly 
and  altogether  pleasant. 

Equally  startling  was  the  effect  of  that  caress  on 
Sadie  herself.  Resolute  as  she  was  in  the  perform- 
ance of  her  professional  duty,  fixed  is  had  been  her 
determination  to  play  out  her  part,  that  one  un- 
locked for  touch  was  too  much  for  her.  Her  will 
crumbled  under  it.  All  memory  slipped  away  from 
her.  She  no  longer  thought  of  Shindler  or  Kest- 
ner  or  the  case  that  had  brought  her  within  those 
unsavory  walls.  All  she  knew  was  that  Wilsnach 
had  kissed  her. 

Her  reaction  to  thai  advance  was  both  unwilled 
and  immediate.  Her  t  yes  c^^ened  dreamily  and  tor 
one  moment  she  stared  up  into  his  face.  Then  her 
head  sank  contentedly  down  into  the  hollow  of  his 
protecting  shoulder.  Her  arms  tightened  about  hri 
neck.  And  in  a  response  as  unreasoned  as  had  been 
those  movements  themselves  she  found  herself  mur> 
muring :  "Do  yuh  care    Do  yuh  i" 


JH£  DOOR  of:  dread  261 

WilMiidi,  an  licmr  before,  might  have  been  in 
•ome  doubt  at  to  hit  antwer  to  that  question.  In 
hit  aatteftijr  bntjr  Ufe  there  had  been  neither  time 
nor  plaoe  for  women.  Bat  now  he  found  the  gaze 
of  a  pair  of  dumbly  appealing  eyes  something  dis- 
tinctly more  than  pleasant   He  realized  that  the 
pressure  of  a  pair  of  clinging  arms  could  make  a 
man  Easily  and  abturdly  happy.    He  discovered 
iwnething  strangely  desirable  in  the  lips  murmuring 
so  dote  to  hit  own.  They  teemed  to  cannonade  the 
cememed  ttfoqglioid  of  hit  bachelorhood  with  ex- 
ptoto  of  cmotioat  afiintt  which  he  stood  quite  un- 
fortified. And  iortaking  reason  himself,  he  bent 
lower  and  lor  tfie  tccoad  time  pressed  his  lipt 
aftimt  tbe  warmA  of  her  retponding  lips. 

**!  love  jou,  Sa^r  a  iroice  that  did  not  seem 
Kke  his  own  vofee  wat  saying.  And  if  the  truth 
that  dedM^  had  not  before  been  plain  to  him, 
he  now  loond  it  bodi  pi«tant  enough  and  plausible 
enough  to  reiterate.  And  even  more  bewildering 
wat  the  qnfet  %ht  of  nytwe  which  his  words  had 
produced  fai  the  felcat  faae  muiag  up  into  his. 

Td  go  tteom^  Hen  for  yuhr  the  solemnly  an- 
nwBced.  Sie  «ndd  not  wriie  love  as  other  women 
jM.  Lilt  had  beta  too  hard  with  her.  But  with 


2Si        JHE  DOOR  OF,  DREAD 


her  capttolition  tlwra  coald  asd  tlitre  wooU  bt  no 

**Yoo*ll  never  need  to  do  that,"  proteHed  WSa- 
mdL  •Wen  try  and  make  it  more  Iflce  the  other 
plaeer 

"And  yuh  care  that  roodir  she  hangrH/  re- 

"I  care  far  toon  than  thatr  ttoutlj  declared 

"And  ydi  wna't  jmt  Idddin*  when  jnih  sent  ma 
tiiem  violetar  iha  lorlondy  demanded. 
"Of  conna  I  wan't" 

That  brought  Sadie's  thoughts  hack  to  the  world 
that  ittB  faiy  about  them. 

"And  yuh— yuh  codd  care  for  a  ghl  who'd  got 
halkd  up  wit'  a  coofk^  o*  lemons,  b'fore  die  got 
gerry  to  what  a  rtsA  man  was  like?" 

"We're  not  going  to  think  of  the  past,"  he  told 
her.  "Neither  of  yours  nor  of  mUier  But  her 
strangling  little  sigh  did  not  CKxge  his  nodce.  She 
was  remembering  what  Kestner  had  cmly  that  mcMm- 
ing  tdd  her. 

"But  yuh  can't  get  away  from  the  past,"  she  de- 
dared,  as  she  shook  hersdf  free  ami  stared  ahoul 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD  263 

room  thai  bronght  the  thought  of  SUadltf 
•weeping  back  into  her  memory. 

Wilmach  foOowed  her  glance.  And  he  too  came 
back  to  realitiet. 

*3ttt  what  happened  here  ?"  he  demanded. 

"I  tailed  that  boob  to  this  dump,  and  got  into  his 
room  when  he  thought  it  was  a  bell-hop  at  the 
door.  Then  he  tried  to  put  me  under  wit'  a  couple 
o'  knock-out  drcpi.'' 

•That  curr  sakl  Wilmach.  'TU  make  him  pay 
forthatr  ^ 

"HowH  yuh  make  him  pay  for  it?"  demanded 
Sadie.  He's  given  us  both  the  slip." 

"Given  Ui  both  the  slip!"  exclaimed  Wilsnach. 
"Not  on  your  life  I  He  walked  right  into  my  arma 

those  itainr 

Hewhatr 

"And  I  had  the  irons  on  him  before  he  so  much 
M  got  hia  breath  r 
Sadie  stared  at  her  feet  again. 
"Then  where'd  yuh  leave  him 

Wilsnach  couM  not  even  guess  as  to  the  source 
of  her  ahirm. 

"Why,  I  kicked  him  in  the  clothes-closet  of  that 


MICROCOPY  RESOUmON  TBT  CNART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


264        THE  DOOK  OF  DREAD 


empty  room  down  the  hdl,  the  room  where  you  left 
your  violets  and  gloves.  That's  what  sent  me  in 
here,  double-quick." 

"But  how'd  yuh  know  I  was  here,  in  this  room?" 

**I  found  Strasser  carrying  a  key  with  this  room- 
number  on  its  shank-plate.  So  I  dove  for  this  room 
to  see  what  it  meant." 

"And  what'd  yuh  do  wit*  his  valise?" 

"Why?"  inquired  the  puzzled  Wilsnach. 

"What'd  yuh  do  wit'  his  valise?"  shrilly  repeated 
the  girl. 

Wilsnach  stood  staring  at  her  in  perplexity. 
"Why,  I  gave  it  to  the  officer  to  take  down  to  the 
taxi." 

"mat  taxi  ?  What  officer  ?" 

Wilsnach  could  afford  to  be  patient. 

"The  officer  I  brought  along  for  the  purpose  of 
formally  gathering  in  Strasser,  of  course.  And 
the  taxi,  I  might  add,  was  to  get  him  quickly  down 
to  Headquarters,  without  any  fuss  and  feathers, 
before  the  arrest  became  known." 

"Then  Strasser's  still  in  that  closet  ?" 

"By  this  time,"  exclaimed  Wilsnach,  "our  officer 
has  doubtless  taken  him  down  to  the  taxi,  as  I  in- 
structed him  to  do  when  I  handed  him  the  closet  key." 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  265 

"But  the  vah'se?" 

"The  valise,  Sadie,  is  naturaUy  going  along  with 

the  rest  of  us !" 

"Not  wit'  yuh!  "  was  her  unexpectedly  passionate 

declaration. 

"Why  not?"  asked  the  still  more  amazed  Wils- 

nach. 

That  question  remained  for  all  time  unanswered. 
For  at  that  precise  moment  a  sudden  detonaticm 
shook  the  building  in  which  they  stood.  The  win- 
dows rattled.  A  tremor  ran  along  the  floor  under 
their  feet  and  minute  flakes  of  loosened  plaster 
snowed  down  about  them.  Sadie  stood  gaping  at 
Wilsnach,  an  unuttered  question  in  her  staring  eyes. 

Wilsnach  himself  ran  to  the  window  and  thrust 
out  h,s  head.  But  this  window  opened  on  the  back 
of  the  house  and  showed  nothing  of  the  street  Then 
he  went  to  the  door  and  opened  it.  The  place  seemed 
oddly  quiet  after  that  one  sudden  thunder  of  soond 
which  had  shaken  its  floors. 

•'What  do  you  suppose  that  was?"  he  asked 
through  the  open  door.  Then  he  stared  along  the 
hall  toward  the  stair-head  where  he  could  make 
out  a  hurriedly  approaching  figure.  This  figure  wtt 
both  hatless  and  breathless.  It  was  qukt  €k)«  fo 


266        THE  DOOR  QF^  DREAD 


Wilsnach  before  the  latter  realized  it  was  his  own 
officer,  the  officer  to  whom  he  had  handed  the  key. 

This  officer  came  and  leaned  against  the  door-post 
where  Wilsnach  stood.  His  eyes  were  red-rimmed 
and  blinking  and  his  nose  was  bleeding  a  little.  He 
wiped  his  stained  lip  with  the  back  of  his  hand.  Then 
he  blinked  heavily  down  at  his  singed  uniform. 

"Well,  your  guy  got  away !"  he  said  in  a  muffled 
voice,  like  a  man  with  a  mouthful  of  food. 

"Got  away?"  echoed  Wilsnach. 

The  hatless  man  snickered.  Both  his  movements 
and  the  sounds  that  he  made  seemed  oddly  unco- 
ordinated. 

"Blew  himself  up  with  a  bomb,  before  I  could 
even  get  a  foot  on  the  running-board !" 
"He  what?" 

"He  blew  himself  up!  Why,  there  ain't  a  piece 
o*  him  the  size  of  an  oyster  cracker !" 

It  was  not  Wilsnach's  voice  that  spoke  next,  but 
Sadie  Wimpel's.  It  sounded  thin  and  quavering 
from  the  stillness  of  the  shadowy  room. 

"Somebody  get — get  me  a  drink  o*  water,  quick!" 
she  said,  as  she  sank  into  the  shabby  chair  beside  the 
table  that  still  held  the  two  empty  glasses.  "I'm 
— I'm  kind  o' sick!" 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  267 

Wilsnach  caught  vtpctmoi  HutBt  classes  and  na 
to  the  wash-bowl  tap  on  the  other  nde  of  the  room. 
Water  dripped  down  the  tides  ol  tfaft  vauttady  gk» 
as  he  hurried  bade  to  her. 

"Don't  you  woriy  about  that  man,"  he  aaid,  as 
he  tried  to  hold  the  glass  to  her  lips. 

"But  he's  deadr  cried  out  tiie  giri,  sitting  up 
straight  in  her  chair. 

"Do  you  call  that  madi  loss?"  he  demanded,  as 
she  pushed  the  glass  »way  fnan  her  mouth.  About 
its  brim  she  could  still  detect  a  tiim  odor  of  beer. 
It  reminded  her  too  much  of  the  past 

She  was  herself  by  this  time,  staring  frowning!/ 
up  into  Wilsnach's  worried  face. 

"Do  you  know  what  that  man  was?"  he  asked, 
as  in  answer  to  htr  signal  he  helped  her  to  her  feet 
"Yes,  I  know  what  he  was,"  Sadie  i^Iied,  dit^- 
ing  forlornly  to  Wilsnadi's  ann.  For  a  moment 
she  was  tempted  to  teU  hhn  cverythhig;  fo  deanse 
her  soul  of  the  secret,  to  swing  wide  tiie  door  wiiidi 
she  had  once  so  dreaded  to  open. 

Yet,  looking  up  at  him»  die  Iiesiteled.  R  codd 
be  done  later  on,  at  some  other  thne,  when  die  was 
surer  of  his  faith  in  her.  For  die  could  not  afford 
to  lose  that  faith  of  his  m  her.  It  was  the  one  thing 


268 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAQ 


she  had  left  Xt  was  the  one  thing  that  could  save 
her. 

She  surprised  both  Wilsnach  and  the  officer  wait- 
ing somewhat  restlesstly  at  the  open  door  by  sud- 
denly flinging  her  arms  about  the  man  beside  her. 

"D'yuh  ruUy  care  for  me?"  she  passionately  de- 
manded. 

"Of  course  I  do,**  was  the  reply  of  a  somewhat 
constrained  Wilsnach,  glancing  apprehensively  to- 
ward the  hallway. 

"Then  I  don't  give  a  rip  what  happens !"  she  cried 
out  with  her  abandoned  little  vibrata  of  emotion. 


CHAPTER  TWELVE 

YOU  can  smoke  here,"  announced  Wilsnach, 
as  he  refilled  his  demi-tasse  from  the  btttered 
pewter  coffee-pot  with  the  ebony  handle. 

A  faint  tinge  of  pink  crept  up  into  Sadie  Wimpel't 
powdered  cheek.  "I  don't  wantta  smoke  I'* 

Sadie  spoke  with  apparent  indifference,  yet  across 
the  narrow  white  estuary  of  the  restaurant-table 
she  shot  a  glance  of  quick  interrogation.  Wils- 
nach,  she  felt,  was  trying  her  out  He  was  till  a 
little  uncertain  about  her  beiii|r  able  to  act  like  « 
lady. 

"Why  not?"  he  asked,  recalling  her  earlier  dec- 
oration that  she  had  seen  enough  European  dudi- 
esses  engaged  in  that  innocent  pastime  to  swamp  a 
ship.  There  were  times,  he  had  to  acknowledge 
when  Sadie  was  still  a  bit  of  a  mystery  to  him. 

**I  told  yuh  I  was  goin*  to  cut  out  the  stnokin'  and 
the  slang  I  And  I'm  goin'  to  cut  them  out  for 
good!"  For  the  second  time  the  cok>r  showed  a 

269 


270        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


little  deqjcr  between  the  powdered  ear-lobe  and  the 
ineradicable  little  runway  of  freckles.  "I  don't 
wantta  do  anything  that'll  make  yuh  ashamed  of 
me.  That's  wb-^r 

Wilsnach  p  d  at  her  solemnity.  He  could  af- 
ford to  be  i  .uulgent.  He  had  vindicated  his  dis- 
covery. His  exotic  little  side-street  restaurant  had 
yielded  them  up  a  dinner  that  was  irreproachable. 
Sadie  had  eaten  her  way  t^-  ugh  that  dinner  with 
the  open  and  honest  appetite  ot  a  healthy  boy.  Wils- 
nach himself  had  dined  with  the  delight  of  a  truant 
who  had  found  the  balm  of  freedom  edged  with  the 
zest  of  adventure. 

"But  I  want  yqu  to  be  happy,"  he  maintained, 
smiling  at  her  from  that  hazy  headland  of  con',... 
which  is  bastioned  on  the  seas  of  ventral  ap^'  • 
Trouble,  he  realized,  could  not  house  for  long  in 
that  resilient  young  heart  of  hers.  It  was  only 
two  days  since  the  tragic  taking-off  of  Shindler,  but 
shocked  as  she  may  have  been  by  that  occurrence, 
she  now  seemed  intent  on  forgetting  it.  As  she  sat 
smiling  across  the  table  at  him  she  could  even  sur- 
render her  hand  to  his,  with  a  child-like  little  gulp 
of  contentment. 

"Well,  I'm  so  happy,  whra  I  see  yuH  coppin'  any- 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  271 

thing  about  me  to  like,  that  I'd  go  without  catin',  if 
yuh  said  so!"  Here  Sadie  once  more  sighed  con- 
tentedly. "And  I  sure  like  my  eats  1" 

Their  hands  clasped  midway  across  the  narrow 

table. 

"I  like  everything  about  you  1"  he  said  with  sud- 
den fervor.  And  he  knew  it  was  true. 

"Yuh  see  I've  canned  that  junk  yuh  kicked  about," 
she  announced,  as  she  stared  hungrily  down  at  her 
now  ringless  fingers.  Yet  ',he  looked  up  at  him 
again,  even  more  hungrily.    "Yuh  ain't  ashamed 
of  me?"  she  implored. 
"You're  wonderful!"  he  averred. 
Her  eyes  deepened  and  darkened.    She  sighed 
happily.  Then  her  linked  fingers  at  the  table-center 
closed  with  sudden  passion  about  his  hand.  "Hully 
gee,  but  I  love  yuh !"  she  cried  out  with  a  tremulous 
little  choke  in  her  voice.  "I  love  yuh  so  mudi  that 
it  hurts!" 

"You'll  never  be  sorry  for  it  I"  was  Wilsnach's 
equally  tremulous  reply. 

"I  know  I  won't   But  sometimes  I  think  yuh 
will!"  ^ 

"Try  me!" 

"Sometimes,"  went  on  the  woman  with  whom,  h^ 


272        THE  DOOR  OF!  DREAQ 

knew,  life  had  dealt  so  harshly,  "sometimes  I  wish 
we  could  have  known  each  other  when  I  was  as 
young  and  baby-eyed  as  those  girls  that  go  up  and 
down  Fift'  Avenue,  ev'ry  afternoon  I  Why  couldn't 
this  have  come  to  me  before  I  got  mixed  up  with 
all  those  things  I  can't  get  away  from?" 

Wilsnach  felt  the  raven  wing  of  tragedy  that  flut- 
tered over  them,  and  he  did  his  best  to  brush  it 
away.  "Then  I  would  never  have  known  you  I 
I  wouldn't  have  been  fit  to  sit  beside  you !  And  the 
dead  past  has  buried  its  dead,  and  we're  not  going 
to  dig  it  up.  We've  got  a  whole  Ufetime  to  look 
forward  to  !'* 
"A  whole  lifetime  1"  she  echoed. 
"And  once  we've  helped  Kestner  clear  tq>  this 
Keudell  case  we'll  be  free  to  start  over." 

He  thought,  for  a  moment,  that  the  sudden  release 
of  his  hand  was  due  to  her  resentment  at  the  intru- 
sion of  those  sterner  realities  which  they  had  for  the 
moment  evaded.  But  he  saw  that  it  was  actually 
due  to  the  fact  that  their  funereal  waiter  was  re- 
turning to  the  table.  And  from  the  first  Sadie  had 
most  heartily  disliked  that  waiter. 

They  sat  in  silence  until  the  funereal  figure  once 
more  took  it!  laggard  departure.  Then  the  estuaiy 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  273 

was  again  bridged  by  iti  linked  wanntli  of  liaad 

meeting  hand. 

"Will  yuh  alwa3r8  love  iiicr  Saide  wistfufly 

asked. 

Wilsnach  did  not  answer  tliat  question.  He 
did  not  answer  it  because  at  tiw  moment  his  eye 
was  fixed  on  yet  another  figufe  Huit  stqiped  qnletiy 
over  to  their  table  even  as  he  watdwd. 

"Are  you  Mr.  Wilsnach  r  this  stranger  inqnited. 

"Why?"  asked  Wilsnach. 

"There's  a  man  wants  you  at  the  phone." 

"What  man?" 

"He  called  himself  Kestner,  I  think." 

It  was  the  school-bell  sounding  accusmgly  oo  the 
ears  of  the  truant  Wilsnach  k)oked  at  Sadie  Wha- 
pel.  Their  hour  was  over. 

The  heavy-browed  intruder  seemed  quite  indif- 
ferent  to  their  emotions.  "YouTl  find  ^  tdephone 
on  the  second  floor,"  he  said  as  he  moved  hidif- 

ferently  away. 

Wilsnach  got  up  from  his  chair.  "Ill  be  back  in 
a  minute,"  he  announced. 

"Don't  be  long,"  she  murmured,  as  her  eye  stiU 
followed  him.  Then  she  sat  back  viratching  the  man 
with  the  prq,rietary  air  as  he  directed  Wilsnach 


274 


THE  DOOR  PIT  DREAQ 


to  the  stairway  that  led  above.  Then  she  fell  to 
wondering  what  the  meaning  of  Kestner's  sudden 
on  would  be. 

She  was  still  pondering  this  when  the  man  with 
the  proprietary  air  stepped  back  to  her  table  side. 
He  moved  with  more  haste  than  before.  But  his 
uptct  was  one  of  bored  preoccupation. 

*Tilr.  Wilsnach  is  waiting  for  you  outside,"  he 
wptoined.  He  even  languidly  and  impersonally  as- 
sisted her  in  gathering  up  her  belongings. 

"Why  didn't  Mr.  Wilsnach  come  for  me?"  she 
demanded.  If  a  party  took  you  out  to  dinner,  she 
had  been  taught,  it  was  a  party's  job  to  see  that  you 
didn't  have  to  cruise  out  of  a  slum-joint  without  an 
escort.- 

"He  said  he  had  to  find  a  taxicab.  I  guess  maybe 
he's  in  a  hurry." 

Of  course  he  would  be  in  a  hurry,  Sadie  remem- 
bered, with  a  call  like  that  from  Kestner.  And 
nothing  could  shake  her  faith  in  the  rock  of  Wils- 
nach's  gentility.  So  she  quickened  her  steps  and 
caught  up  her  skirts  as  she  mounted  to  the  sidewalk. 
There,  to  her  relief,  she  caught  sight  of  the  wait- 
ing taxicab. 

She  could  even  see  Wilsnach's  hand  swing  the 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  275 

door  open  for  her.  She  kntw,  m  ilie  H^ped  Uglitfy 
up  into  the  hooded  dtrioMai  of  tlw  cafa^  tint  he  WM 
moving  over  on  the  lent  to  BMke  room  for  her.  At 
th.  same  moment,  however,  the  bccime  oooidow  . 
tiie  fact  that  a  eecond  men  wm  crowdfaif  hi  An  u£;i 
the  narrow  door  behind  her. 

She  tvimed  to  Wibnadi  with  a  ^leitioci  oo  her 
lips.  She  realized,  as  the  did  to,  that  tiie  taxkab 
was  already  weO  under  way.  Put  her  teoood  <S»- 
covery  quite  obliterated  her  eariier  one.  As  die 
stared  through  the  gloom  ibe  found  tfiat  the  man 
who  sat  so  close  beside  her  was  not  Wilsnadi. 

She  twisted  quickly  about  and  saw  thitt  the  sec- 
ond man  who  had  fdkmed  hr  Hito  tfie  cab  was 
equally  unknown  to  her.  It  wsk  .  moment  or  two 
before  the  significance  of  the  skuatioo  actuary 
struck  home.  Th?n  foUor.  :tl  a  rtaetkm  th9«  was  as 
natural  as  it  was  m^fkable.  She  wasted  no  forOier 
timeon  doubts.  She  had  for  too  many  momhs  been 
the  center  of  oontendmg  forces,  buffeted  by  the  tides 
of  intrigue,  conspired  agaaist  by  Hit  enemies  of  evil 
She  started  to  her  feet  ttid  shouted  aloud  wMi  aS 
the  strength  of  her  lusty  young  haigs. 

But  that  call  of  alarm  was  not  k)ng4ived.  She 
found  herself  jericed  bo^y  bade  mto  the  nberat 


276 


,THE  POOR  OF.  DREAD> 


and  a  massive  hand  at  the  same  time  i^ced  over 
her  mouth.  It  cupped  itself  artfuHy  over  her  chin, 
with  a  gigantic  thumb  and  forefinger  squeezing 
tight  on  her  nostrils  until  the  very  breath  of  life 
was  shut  off  from  her  body.  She  fdt  herself 
wedged  closely  in  between  the  two  bodies.  They 
held  her  like  the  horns  of  a  vise,  held  her  until  all 
moven^t  became  impossiUe. 

She  tried  to  writhe  and  twist  away  from  the  great 
hand  that  was  shutting  off  her  breath.  But  this 
was  impossiUe.  Reverting  to  feral  ways,  she  tried 
to  fight  with  nail  and  tooth.  But  this  was  equally 
useless.  She  was  without  strength.  The  ache  for 
air  caused  her  t9  collapse.  Then,  and  then  only, 
the  gross  thmnb  and  forefinger  over  her  n<^  re- 
laxed their  pressure  a  little  and  permitted  her  to 
breathe  again. 

The  man  who  had  thrown  an  arm  about  her,  she 
saw,  was  huge  of  stature.  He  was  massive  and 
thick-shouldered,  ahnost  giant-like  m  size.  And 
about  the  entire  proceeding  he  had  remained  mad- 
deningly self-contained. 

"This  dame*8  sure  to  be  heeled,"  he  said  to  the 
smaller  man  on  her  ri|^,  "Xou  frisk  her  3when  I 
hold  her  downP' 


jHE  DOOR  of:  dread  m. 

Again  her  revolt  against  indignity  was  prompt 
and  instinctive.  She  felt  the  odious  hand  padding 
impersonally  about  her  body,  in  search  for  a  pos- 
sible weapon.  Those  bruskly  interrogative  fingers 
seemed  to  her  as  beastial  as  the  slathering  of  a 
snake  about  her  helpless  limbs.  And  she  fought 
against  them  with  all  the  strength  that  was  left  to 
her. 

The  big  man  beside  her  tightened  his  grip.  "Quit 
that!"  he  warned  her,  "or  you'll  quit  breathing!" 

And  again  the  great  hand  cupped  over  her  face 
and  shut  off  her  breath.  And  again  she  was  com- 
pelled  to  subside. 

"Nothin'  doin'!"  grunted    the    smaller  man 
when  the  exploration  was  completed.   He  sat  back 
in  the  seat  again,  linking  his  arm  dexterously 
through  the  girl's  so  that  any  further  movement  of 
her  hand  was  impossible.  Then  the  big  man  on  her 
left  did  the  same.  She  felt  at  least  grateful  for  be- 
ing able  to  breathe  again.    But  she  was  held  as 
tightly  between  the  two  bodies  on  each  side  of  her 
as  though  she  had  been  strapped  in  a  straight-jacket. 
She  had  no  clear  knowledge  of  where  the  hurrying 
taxicab  was  threading  its  way.  She  knew  that  they 
tfiad  turned^  and  turned  again,  mm^ 


278        .THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAE) 

to  be  fewer,  and  she  could  see  they  were  now  fol- 
lowing streets  that  were  both  quiet  and  unkempt. 
And  she  concluded  that  for  the  time  at  least  all  re- 
sistance was  us^ss. 

She  warned  herself  to  be  cahn  and  keep  her  wits 
about  her.  It  was  no  longer  the  fleeting  physical 
terror  at  being  physically  overpowered  that  pos- 
sessed her.  It  was  more  a  great  and  all-consuming 
indignation  at  the  treatment  to  which  she  had  been 
subjected.  She  couM  know  sustained  fear  no  more 
than  could  the  homeless  feline  that  has  adventured 
through  the  thousand  nocturnal  vicissitudes  of  all 
street-life.  It  took  some  bunch  of  trouble  to  give 
her  cold  feet  Her  own  life  for  the  last  few  years, 
as  she  had  so  recently  told  Wilsnach,  stood  too 
checkered  to  leave  room  for  such  a  chill.  But 
that  was  the  only  medal,  she  explained,  that  her 
years  of  otttlawty  had  hung  on  her.  It  had  put  her 
out  of  the  house-pet  class.  Yet  she  was  startled  and 
iq»8et  and  disturbed  in  soul  by  the  sudden  thought 
of  her  helplessness.  They  had  got  her  head  in 
dumoeiy.  But  even  more  disquieting  to  her  was  the 
thought  that  they  had  tncked  her  so  easily,  that 
th^  had  put  one  over  on  her,  by  a  dodge  that  was 
as  <4d  as  Ute  dip-jostler's. 


THE  DOOR  01?  DREAD  279 

"Going  to  keep  quiet  now?"  the  big  man  at  her 
side  was  inquiring. 

Sadie  did  not  even  deign  to  answer  that  ques- 
tion. She  was  wondering  what  form  her  chance 
would  take  when  it  came.  For  chances  always  come, 
in  some  shape  or  other,  and  if  not  at  one  moment, 
then  at  another.  She  could  not  afford  to  give  i» 
her  faith  in  that. 

"Sure  she's  goin*  to  keep  quiet,"  was  the  grim 
response  of  the  man  on  the  other  side  of  her.  His 
face  advanced  toward  her  in  the  darkness,  like  the 
head  of  a  fighting-cock.  "For  if  she  can't  do  it  her 
way,  she'll  do  it  ours!" 

Sadie,  as  the  car  rattied  on.  pounding  over  car- 
tracks  and  swerving  about  comers,  decided  to  do 
it  in  her  own  way.   She  preferred  the  privilege  of 
breathing.   But  she  decided,  in  her  secret  soul  of 
souls,  that  if  it  came  to  a  show-down  she  could  do 
up  that  smaller  man,  even  though  she  had  to  eat 
his  ears  off.    She  could  make  the  runt  take  the 
mat.  She  was  sure  of  it.  And  the  only  thing  that 
held  her  back  was  the  memory  of  the  second  man 
with  a  hand  like  a  ham.  He  was  a  different  propo- 
sition, that  human  derrick. 
It  was  this  second  man  who  suddenly  shouted 


280        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

aloud  to  the  driver  as  their  car  took  still  another  cor- 
ner on  the  run.  They  slowed  down  and  stopped. 
The  smaller  man  on  Sadie's  right  stepped  out,  dos- 
ing the  door  behind  him.  Sadie  could  see  him  talk- 
ing in  low  tones  to  the  driver.  What  passed  be- 
tween them  she  could  not  tell.  But  her  heart  went 
down  a  little  at  the  resultant  discovery  that  this  li- 
censed chauffeur  was  a  conscious  factor  m  the  move- 
ment. And  the  big  man  on  her  left,  with  his  ever- 
menacing  big  hand  close  to  her  face,  was  holding 
her  securely  down  in  the  seat 

It  was  as  the  smaller  man  dimbed  back  in  the 
car  that  Sadie's  hopes  suddenly  rose.  Under  a 
street  lamp  not  twenty  paces  away  she  saw  the  li^ 
flash  on  the  metal  buttons  of  a  patrohnan's  uniform. 
A  glimpse  of  that  uniform  fortified  her  with  the. 
memory  that  she  was  now  on  the  side  of  the  Law— 
that  she  and  the  approaching  c^cer  were  colleagues 
in  a  common  sense.  She  squinted  thou^tfully  at 
the  huge  paw  poised  so  dose  to  her  face.  She  took 
a  deep  breath,  like  a  diver  about  to  make  his  plunge. 
Then  with  ah  the  strength  of  her  sturdy  young  lungs 
she  shrilled  out  the  one  pregnant  and  disturbing 
word  of  "Help!" 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  281 

It  was  a  scream  that  could  not  be  altogether 
stifled.  E-en  a  feather  manress  could  not  have 
completely  muffled  it.  But  the  poised  hand  came 
down  on  it,  like  a  pianist's  soft-pedal  on  a  con- 
certo's loudest  chord. 

The  smaller  man  swore  softly  as  he  dodged  up 
into  his  seat.    The  cry,  it  is  true,  could  not  be 
repeated,  for  the  great  engulfing  paw  had  closed 
over  the  girl's  face  and  promptly  prohibited  the 
mhalation  of  her  next  breath.  The  human  derrick, 
above  the  whispered  vitriolic  blasphemies  of  the 
smalkr  man,  shouted  wrathfuUy  to  the  driver  to 
get  his  car  under  way.   But  before  it  could  even 
gather  speed  the  blue-coat  was  out  beside  the  run- 
ning-board.   Sadie  did  not  even  object  to  having 
her  breath  cut  off,  for  in  another  second  the  officer 
himself  had  swung  open  ihe  cab-door.   And  that, 
she  knew,  meant  rescue. 

"What's  doin'  in  here?"  he  demanded.  Then 
the  belligerency  went  out  of  his  face,  for  th 
smaller  man  had  leaned  forward  into  the  light. 
Yet  nothing,  so  far  ns  Sadie  could  see,  passed  be- 
tween them. 

"Hello,  that  you,  Spike?"  was  the  officer's 


,m        .THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAD. 


tnilder-tpolcen  inquiry.  "Whatcha  got  there,  any- 
way?" 

'It's  aU  rieht,  Tim!  She's  only  lit  and  noisy r' 
•mo  is?" 

"It's  Blink  Hogan's  skirt   We  had  to  dig  her 
out  o'  Ctmiiskey's  hop-joint!"  i 
"Souscdr 

"To  the  gills!  Says  she's  a  she-hyena  and  been 
tiyin*  to  prove  itT* 

"Whatcha  doin*  with  her?"  was  the  officer's  more' 
indifferent-noted  inquiry.  For  Sadie,  with  her 
Iweath  cut  off,  was  unable  orally  to  contradict  this 
gross  misstatement  So  she  did  her  best  to  kick  the 
glass  out  of  the  cab-front  But  the  big  man  was  too 
pnudi  for  her, 

"We  gave  Blink  our  promise  to  get  her  Home," 
was  the  smaller  man's  weary  retort.  "But  if  you 
can  do  it  any  easier,  I  wish  t'ell  you'd  take  her  over." 

The  officer  now  stood  on  the  curb.  He  was 
swinging  his  night-stick.  j 

"Not  for  mine  T'  he  finally  announced. 

It  was  not  until  the  cab  was  under  way,  and 
well  under  way,  that  Sadie  was  really  permitted  to 
breathe  again.  They  were  traveling  faster  now, 
pxking  along  streets  that  were  still  unknot  to^ 


/ 

if 

tTHE  DOOR  of:  DREAD.  283 

lier.   She  had,  in  fact,  long  since  lost  all  sense  of 
time  and  direction.  Even  their  movements  of  the 
passing  moment  became  more  or  less  indistinct  to 
her.   She  was  vaguely  conscious  of  the  fact  that 
they  had  pulled  up  before  a  forbidding-looking 
house  and  the  two  men  were  half-lifting  her  down 
out  of  the  cab.  The  street,  as  she  later  recalled  it. 
seemed  desoted.    But  her  companions  gave  ner 
little  time  for  observation.   They  walked,  one  on 
each  side  of  her,  holding  her  up  by  the  arm-pits. 
The  cab  moved  on,  she  remembered,  as  they  hur- 
ried her  in  toward  the  house-door,  which  swung 
open  with  a  signal,  seei.iing  to  suck  them  in  like 
a  bivalve.   Then  the  double-doors  closed  behind 
her,  and  the  sound  of  their  closing  seemed  like  the 
thud  of  a  dead-fall,  like  the  double  snap  of  a  trap. 

They  crossed  a  hallway  and  went  stumblingly  up 
a  stairway,  through  unbroken  darkness.  Jhey  went 
three  abreast,  the  men  feeling  their  way  as  they 
mounted.  At  the  top  of  the  stairs,  alter  taking  a 
turn,  the  smaller  man  stopped  and  pushed  a  wall-but- 
ton. This  flooded  the  upper  hallway  with  light 
Then  they  moved  on  to  a  closed  door.  Jhis  the 
bigger  man  opened  with  his  left  hand. 
They  stepped  into  a  room  papered  3Pt||  saijiim^ 


284        ,THE  POOR  OF,  DREAD 


cdored  wall-paper.  It  was  not  large,  and  its  fur- 
niture was  both  mean  and  meager.  From  this  room, 
however,  a  door  opened  into  a  lij^ted  room  at  the 
rear. 

The  smaller  man  stepped  prcmiptly  in  through 
this  second  door,  leaving  the  girl  still  firmly  held  by 
his  burger  omqianion. 

Sadie  could  hear  a  broken  hum  of  voices,  one 
more  guttural  than  the  others.  It  was  the  guttural 
voice,  emerging  louder  and  more  authoritative  than 
its  rivals,  which  finally  made  itself  heard. 

"Then  bring  her  in  hereT  this  voice  commanded. 

Sadie,  as  she  heard  it,  found  the  situation  less 
mysterious  but  n(»ie  the  less  menacing.  For  it  was 
Keiidell  himself  D^o  had  qioken.  And  the  next  mo- 
ment she  was  being  kd  into  his  presence. 

Sadie  blinked  a  little  at  the  strong  lig^t  with 
which  she  found  herself  suddenly  confronted.  But 
she  Uiidced  even  more  at  the  figures  whidi  she  saw 
ranged  before  her.  They  made  her  think  of  a  row 
of  magistrates  set  up  to  intimidate  a  prisoner.  For 
behind  the  kmg  green-baize  table  which  stood  ahnost 
at  the  center  of  the  rocmi  fat  four  men  in  four  iuf^ 
backfd  diaira. 

Ilises  Qi  ^um  she  recognijawj  at  a  glance.  The 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  285 

one  directly  behind  the  reflecting  library  lamp  that 
stared  at  her  like  a  headlight,  was  Keudell  himsdf. 
The  next  man  to  him  was  Breitaian,  alias  Wallaby 
Sam.    And  next  to  Breitman  sat  Andelman,  the 
same  suave  Andelman  who  had  posed  as  the  ord- 
nance officer  from  the  Department  at  Washington. 
The  fourth  man,  who  sat  on  Keudell's  left,  she 
could  not  for  a  moment  place.  Then  she  remem- 
bered the  Secret  Service  photograph  which  Kest- 
ner  had  once  handed  out  to  her  and  Wilsnadi  for 
inspection.   It  was  Heinold,  the  Austrian  who  had 
stolen  the  gun  plans  from  the  WatervUet  worics  and 
handed  them  on  to  Dorgan. 

That  quartette's  silent  contemplation  of  her,  she 
realized,  was  meant  to  be  inquisitional.   She  felt, 
even  against  her  wiU,  like  a  prisoner  brought  to  the 
dock.   There  was  something  disturbing,  for  a  mo- 
ment, in  that  Judicial  array.  It  brought  to  her  mind 
the  impression  that  she  was  a  cell-inmate  suddenly 
confronted  by  her  accusers.  Yet  she  was  not  alto- 
gether afraid  of  them.  The  whole  thing;  she  tried 
to  tell  herself,  had  been  stage-managed  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  terrorizing  her.   Even  the  high-backed 
chairs  and  the  formidable-looking  table  of  green- 
baize  did  not  quite  succeed  in  giving  them  the  dig- 


286        THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAP 


nity  of  a  judicatory  tritmnal.  For  takiiig  tium  all 
in  an,  the  knew,  they  were  at  muaTory  a  quartette 
of  intrigants  and  agents  provocatewr  ai  ever 
skulked  like  rats  through  the  sulxellars  of  a  na- 
tion's defenses.  And  the  knowledge  that  she  was  a 
servant  of  that  nation  kept  her  courage  up. 

But  Sadie  had  little  more  time  to  think  of  this, 
for  KeudeU  had  ah%ady  given  a  curt  command  to 
HeiiK>ld. 

"Lock  that  doorP  he  barked  out 

As  Heinold  crossed  to  the  door  and  locked  it 
KeudeU  turned  back  to  the  still  standing  girl. 

"Sit  down  r*  he  ommianded. 

She  advanced-  a  step  or  two  to  the  worn  leather 
chair,  whidi  had  apparently  been  carefully  placed 
for  her,  and  sank  languidly  into  it  This  left  her 
even  more  in  the  full  glare  of  the  light  from  the 
reflector  of  the  green-topped  reading-lamp  on  the 
table. 

**Yuh  might  switch  that  electric/'  she  mildly  sug- 
gested. 

"Why?"  demanded  Keudefl. 

Sadie  sat  intently  regarding  him.  They  watched 
each  other  warily,  like  boxers  pondering  the  prob- 
lem of  how  the  5rst  blow  should  strike.  Then  the 


THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAD  287. 

girl't  lip  curled  a  little  with  Kom.  But  otherwise 
she  remained  outwardly  unmomL 

*1t  rather  annoys  me,"  she  finally  replied. 

KeudeU  swept  her  with  a  glacial  eye.  "It  suits 
me  as  it  is,"  was  his  reply.  "And  you  win  have, 
madame,  worse  things  than  that  to  annoy  you  be- 
fore you  have  finished  with  vaf* 

"Ain't  he  the  big  man  r  murmuitd  Sadie^  sel- 
tling  back  in  her  chair. 

Her  nonchalance  seemed  for  a  moment  to  non- 
plus Keudell,  to  leave  him  nothing  a-ainst  which 
to  storm.  Then  he  cleared  himself  again  for  ac- 
tion. 

"You  wiU  teH  us."  he  suddenly  said,  and  his  voice 
gave  the  sense  of  thundering  even  while  it  remained 
moderate  in  vdume,  *>ou  will  tell  us  what  you 
know  about  Abraham  Shindler." 

Sadie  continued  to  study  him  with  a  perplexed 
yet  casual  tyt, 

"Whafs  the  guy's  name?"  she  inquired. 

"Shindler,  I  saidT'  repeated  KeudeU.  But  the 
thun<fcr4)olt,  r^ted,  was  without  its  sense  ot 
shodc  Sadie  Wimpd  merely  shook  her  head. 

"Yuh're  baikin'  up  the  wrong  tree.  That  gink 
ain't  on  my  callin'  listf 


288        THE  DOOR  OF  DREADf 


Keudell,  with  his  molars  clamped  l^rtwr,  ni 
regarding  her.  The  thought  that  he  had  made  a 
bad  begimiing  did  not  tend  to  foften  hit  matner. 
"What's  your  name?"  he  suddenly  tboC  out  at  her. 

Sadie  smiled.  "What  difference  doea  it  make?" 
she  languidly  inquired. 

"Were  you  not  known  in  Monte  Cario  at 
Cherry  Dreiser?"  asked  Anddman. 

"Maybe!"  was  Sadie's  reply. 

"And  two  years  ago  hut  April,"  oontiatted  Keo- 
dell,  "you  were  in  Odessa.  What  was  your  busi- 
ness there  ?" 

"I  wasn't  murderin'  any  Jewjsh  n^Htfaief  P'  she 
announced  as  she  met  KeudeQ's  stedy  state.  The 
latter's  face  did  not  actually  change  hi  expiessioa. 
But  there  was  a  ponderable  Uipse  of  thne  before  he 

put  his  next  question. 

"Why  did  you  leave  Budapest  exactly  two  years 

ago?" 

"Did  I?"  parried  Sadie. 

"You  did!" 

"And  yuh're  dead  sure  of  itr 

"I  am!" 

"Then  yuh're  probably  dead  sure  of  the  reason 

why!" 


THE  DOOR  OF.  PREAQ 

It  wii  WtlWjjr  Smo  who  tpoke  next  Hisvoicr 
WM  ■hakiog  •  mtfe.  tml  f or  the  fint  time  in  his 
life  he  teemed  to  have  ptrted  from  his  rubicund 

Mtvitjr.  He  wti  like  a  robin  with  •  house-cat  too 
dose  to  its  fledglingt. 

''Look  here,  my  giri,  we're  not  here  for  the  fun  o  f 
alltWf.  You  know  who  we  are,  don't  your 

Sadie  continued  to  ^  them  with  hmguid  scorn. 
"I  know  the  whoie  bimdir 

"And  do  you  imagine  we're  going  to  put  up  with 
much  of  thia  monkcgr-worfc?" 

"I  ain't  hiterested  m  what  yuh'rc  goin'  to  put  ud 
withr  ^ 

"But  you're  here,  and  you're  going  to  stay  here 
until  you  answer  certain  quesdcns." 

"And  then  what?"  inquired  Sadie. 

It  was  Keudeil  who  spoke  next   "You  do  not 
intend  to  taOc,  perhaps?"  he  A«ifiHfd. 

"Am't  I  taOdn'?"  mquired  Sadie. 

Keuddl  leaned  forward  across  the  green-baize 
taWe-top,  staring  at  her.  For  a  moment  he  stared 
at  her  ahnost  abstractedly,  as  though  pondering  the 
mysteiy  of  human  qieech  and  the  inviolability  of 
the  human  wilL  He  ^ood  arrested  by  the  con- 
sciousness that  bdund  the  unfurrowed  frontal-bone 


290        ,THE  DOOR  OF  DREADi 

of  this  chit  of  a  girl  facing  him  were  certain  facts 
to  which  he  sought  access,  certain  facts  which  he 
must  possess.  They  were  there  in  the  small  vault 
of  her  skull,  there  clear  and  plain,  there  as  definitely 
and  indisputably  as  a  tradesman's  greenbacks  lie  in 
a  safe-drawer.  Yet  between  that  frontal-bone  and 
a  safe-door  there  was  a  perilous  difference.  The 
heavier  chamber  of  steel  could  be  shattered  and 
ravished.  But  with  the  crushing  of  that  smaller 
chamber  of  bone  and  tissue  its  treasure  went  with 
it. 

It  was  that  which  frustrated  him,  as  it  must  frus- 
trate all  men  who  seek  to  live  by  force  alone.  Be- 
tween him  and  those  most  desired  of  facts  stood 
nothing  more  than  a  fraction  of  an  inch  of  sutured 
calcium  salts  which  one  blow  could  shatter.  Yet 
they  remained  inaccessible,  impervious  to  his  power. 

'•You  think,  madame,  you  may  perhaps  beat  us 
at  this  game?"  he  finally  suggested.  An  ominous 
note  of  quietness  had  come  into  his  voice.  It  was  in 
his  suavest  moods,  she  remembered,  that  he  was 
most  to  be  feared. 

"What  game?"  tanporized  Sadie. 

"The  game,  madame,  that  is  going  to  tt^  before 
you  get  out  of  this  house  1" 


[THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


It 


291 


Time,  Sadie  felt,  was  an  asset  to  her.  She  no 
longer  stood  alone.  She  was  part  of  a  complex 
mechanism  which  her  absence  would  disturb,  as  a 
slipped  cog  disrupts  a  machine.  Already,  she  felt, 
the  word  had  gone  out  and  the  search  was  under 
way.  So  her  first  duty  now  was  to  fence  for  time. 

"Then  what's  the  use  o'  talkin'  about  it?"  was 
her  nonchalant  retort  to  Keudell's  threat. 

"But  you  are  going  to  talk  about  it  1" 

"Am  ir 

"You  are  going  to  say,  first,  where  this  man 
Kestner  is,  and  where  the  papers  you  stole  are,  and 
then  what  became  of  the  blue-prints  you  tricked 
out  of  Dorgan.  And  you  are  going  to  say  it  before 
you  see  God's  sunshine  again  I" 

Sadie's  passivity  suddenly  dropped  from  her. 
Fixed  as  may  have  been  her  purpose,  her  mind,  in 
the  final  analysis,  was  stiU  an  untutored  one.  And 
anger  possessed  her. 

"Say,  yuh  can't  pull  that  movie  stuff  on  me!" 
she  cried  back  at  him.  "I'm  not  the  goat  in  this 
deal.  And  what's  more,  3ruh  guys  can't  throw  a 
scare  into  me,  either!  Yuh  may  as  well  get  wise  to 
that!  Get  it— and  get  it  good!  This  is  the  third 
time  yuh've  tried  to  put  over  the  rou^^-ncck  work — 


292        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


and  yuh  know  how  far  it  got  yuh  before  and  how 
far  it's  goin*  to  get  yuh  this  time  V* 

Keudell  seemed  to  relish  her  opposition.  Resist- 
ance was  what  he  wanted.  It  supplied  him  with  a 
bone  on  which  to  set  his  teeth.  He  stood  up  in  his 
place,  ahnost  exultantly,  and  leaned  across  the  table 
menacing  her  with  an  accusatory  forefinger. 

"This,  madame,  will  be  the  fourth  time.  And 
this  time  it  will  get  us  somewhere.  It  will—" 

He  stopped,  interrupted  by  a  sudden  knock  on  the 
aoor.  He  motioned,  still  standing,  for  Heinold  to 
answer  that  knock. 

The  entire  tribunal  waited,  anxious-eyed,  as  the 
key  was  turned,  and  the  door  opened.  But  most 
anxious  of  all  waited  Sadie,  for  all  the  indifferent 
glance  with  which  she  apparently  regarded  her  suede 
shoe-tips.  For  she  remembered  that  she  was  still 
the  part  of  a  machine. 

It  was  the  huge-bodied  man  who  had  held  her 
in  the  taxicab.  He  came  in  thoughtfully,  ignoring 
her  where  she  sat  But  she  watched  him  as  he 
crossed  the  room  and  leaned  over  the  green-baize 
taUe  toward  Keudell. 
**We*ve  got  him  this  time  I"  he  quietly  announced. 


THE  POOR  PF:  PREAD  293 

"Which  one?" 
"Wilsnachl" 

Keudell,  with  slightly  incredulous  eyes,  sank 
slowly  back  into  his  chair.  "Where  is  he?" 

Sadie,  for  the  moment,  was  quite  forgotten. 

"I  left  Spike  and  Otto  bringing  him  in  from  the 
cab." 

"Do  you  mean  he  is  hurt,  perhaps?" 

The  big  man  shrugged  a  shoulder.  "Of  course 
he  got  noisy  when  he  saw  he  was  nipped.  They  al- 
ways do.  So  we  had  to  shut  him  up.** 

"Can  he  talk?" 

"He  could  talk  all  right  if  he  wanted  to." 
"But  will  he  talk?"  was  Keudell's  quick  inquiry. 
"We  haven't  tried." 

It  was  Wallaby  Sam,  with  his  rosily  bald  head 
slightly  inclined,  who  spoke  next,  "Then  hadn't  we 
better  get  him  up  here?" 

Keudell  made  a  gesture  of  impatience. 

"We  don't  want  him  up  here  until  this  woman 
has  said  what  she's  going  to  say."  Sadie  Wimpel 
already  seemed  a  mere  incident  in  his  activities.  He 
had  bigger  fish  to  fry.  "Tell  Spike  and  Otto  to 
take  him  down-stairs  and  take  bis  boots  off.  (3ivc  \ 


294        THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAD. 


hira  five  minutes  to  write  out  what  we  wadb  toJ 
know.  If  he  refuses,  and  fails  to  change  his  muid 
in  that  time,  light  the  gas-tube  and  get  busy  wiA  it"  i 

"And  ifhe  still  refuses  r 

"You  can  cook  his  feet  off,  for  all  I  cant* 

The  big  man  turned  coolly  away.  **I*n  codk  *«n 
an  right !"  he  determinedly  announced,  as  he  crosseil 
the  room  and  passed  out  through  the  doOT. 

The  quietness  of  that  room  was  ominous.  The 
man  called  Heinold  was  waiting  to  rdock  the  door 
before  returning  to  his  seat  He  even  had  his  H*^ 
on  the  knob  before  anything  happened  to  intemqvt 
that  ominous  lull  Yet  it  was  not  so  much  an  inter- 
ruption as  an  eruption. 

The  crater  of  it  was  the  worn  leather  diair  in 
which  Sadie  Wimpel  sat  It  seemed  less  a  reasoned 
and  pre-determined  movement  than  a  Uind  and 
frenzied  explosion  of  activity.  Yet  behind  that  tn- 
mult,  mad  as  it  seemed,  was  somt  shadow: 
of  thought  some  forlorn  atten^  at  strat^. 

For  Sadie,  in  her  revolt  against  quiescoio^  Had 
not  altogether  lost  hier  head.  When  she  ftrudc,  the 
jBtruck  in  the  only  way  possible  to  her. 
.  She  dived  so  qniddy  for  the  greoi-baize  table 
that  tfic  impact  of  her  body  seit  it  crowdtog  over 


THE  DOOR  of;  DREAD  29S 

against  the  breasts  of  the  three  men  seated  behind 
it,  before  they  could  rise  to  their  feet.  This,  for  a 
few  seconds,  preoccupied  them  with  purely  defens- 
ive movements.  Yet  before  those  three  men  could 
actually  comprehend  the  meaning  of  her  advance 
she  had  caught  and  snatched  away  the  electric-light 
standard,  tearing  the  cloth-covered  wires  from  their 
socket  as  she  darted  back  across  the  room. 

The  result  of  this  maneuver  was  to  plunge  the 
place  into  total  darkness.  She  could  hear  the  sound 
of  overturned  chairs  and  the  quick  shouts  to  Hein- 
old  to  guard  the  door.  But  she  was  close  beside  the 
pale-eyed  Austrian  before  he  could  recover  from  his 
first  surprise.  He  threw  out  his  arms  to  bar  her 
way,  and  clutched  at  her  when  she  brushed  against 
Him.  But  the  lacquered  brass  lamp-standard  was 
already  poised,  and  at  the  right  moment  she  brought 
it  down  with  all  her  force. 

She  could  hear  his  curse  of  anger  as  he  fell  back 
before  that  onslaught,  for  her  blow  had  not  faUen 
true.  But  he  no  longer  occupied  her  thoughts.  Her 
one  passion  was  to  get  through  the  door,  against 
which  she  had  fallen  bodily.  She  heard,  even  befor« 
she  had  it  open,  quick  steps  stumbling  and  advimdi^ 
about  her  in  the  darkness.  But  die  had  foand  ^ 


296        .THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


knob  and  swung  through  to  the  outer  room  widi- 
out  any  of  the  outstretched  hands  reaching  her.  A 
revolver  barked  out,  somewhere  behind  her,  before 
she  could  swing  the  door  shut  again.  But  the  bullet 
missed  her,  and  she  was  now  well  ahead  of  her  pur- 
suers. She  even  had  time  to  swing  shut  the  hafl 
door  as  she  passed  through  it.  Another  ten  steps 
took  her  to  the  head  of  the  stairway.  The  exultar 
tion  of  battle  was  in  her  veins  by  this  time,  and  she 
went  down  the  carpeted  treads  like  a  reindeer  down 
a  rock-side. 

At  the  bottom  she  saw  a  shadow  looming  be- 
fore her.  But  she  was  unaUe  to  stop.  She  saw 
this  shadow  assume  the  form  of  a  crcMS,  and  even 
as  she  felt  l^r  hurtling  body  enjulfed  in  a  pair  of 
masnve  arms,  she  knew,  sickeningly,  that  it  was 
the  same  huge4)odied  man  who  had  held  her  down 
in  the  taxicab  once  more  making  hfT  a  priscMMr. 
Above  the  shock  of  that  sud'lr;  arre  ;t  ui.d  the  dead- 
ening pressure  of  Ae  ccnii.rictin|;  ?  about  her 
she  could  hear  the  sharp  calls  and  shouts  f  mn  above 
and  then  the  huskily  reassuring  words  of  her 
ci^or.  *Tt's  aU  .-ightf  I've  got  herP' 

Keudell  and  Andelman  were  already  down  the 
stah^  and  dose  behind  her.  Wallaby  San^  leaning 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  297 
over  the  baniiter,  shouted  down  an  order  in  Ger- 

man,  an  order  which  she  oonld  not  qnite  understand. 
But  the  others  seemed  to  disr^iard  him. 

"WhatTl  I  do  with  herr  the  big  man  was  cahnly 
if  a  Uttle  breathlessly  inquiring  of  KeudeH 

The  light  was  too  dim  for  Sadie  to  see  his  face. 
But  his  voice  was  once  more  menacing  in  its  quiet- 
ness. "You  will  tie  her  t5>."  he  commanded.  -^Tien 
you  win  lock  her— in  the  room  at  the  ^af^f  You 

wiU  be  so  good  as  to  tie  her  securely,  quite  secufdy. 

For  we  shafl  have  need  of  her,  kter  on.  Sbt  ia^ 

sheot,  m  friend,  ^  win  not  be  unpleasant  to 
tameP 

*Tn  tie  her  an  r^tr  announced  Ae  widc-slwul- 
<iered  man  as  he  fifted  her  dear  of  her  feet  And 
once  more  Sadie  knew  that  aU  struggle  was  useless. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEEN 


SADIE  WIMPEL  knew  that  the  task  of  tnui 
ing  her  up  had  not  been  neglected  She  1^ 
like  a  mummy,  flat  on  what  seemed  to  be  a  dust: 
tapestty-covered  box-couch,  staring  at  the  ceil 
ing.  She  could  move  neitlwr  hand  nor  foot  Tb 
pain  tn  her  arms,  pinioned  dose  behind  her  badi 
had  already  become  acute.  A  numbness  about  di 
ankles  told  her  that  they  were  tied  quite  as  tij^tlj 
After  a  series  of  seismic  contortions  o'    e  bod' 

« 

she  racceeded.  in  rolling  slightly  over  ot  side 
In  this  position  she  was  better  aUe  to  study  the  roon 
in  which  she  lay  a  prisoner.  I 
Slw  studied  it  carefully  and  methodically,  am 
she  did  not  find  it  an  encouraging  harborage.  Ii 
was  small  and  n^^^ted-looklug,  with  a  shutterec 
window  on  <mt  side  and  a  firq>roofed  door  on  tlu 
other.  This  door,  she  knew,  was  locked,  for  At 
had  heard  the  sound  of  the  turning  key  after  shi 
had  been  coolly  but  uncereuKmiously  dropped  on  Oh 
box-couch  akmg  the  wall.  On  one  side  of  the  dooi 

298 


I  THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD|  299 

wai  a  broken  rocking-chair  and  an  overturned  pack- 
mg<U€  ftin  half  fined  with  moldy-looking  books. 
On  the  other  side  was  a  bamboo  table,  a  rollcd-up 
hair  mattress  and  a  couple  of  cardboard  hat-boxes. 
On  the  table  stood  a  faded  and  wilted  palm  in  a  flat 
majolica  vase.  This  palm,  apparently  unwatered 
for  months,  had  long  since  died  and  dried  up.  Along 
the  outer  waU  was  a  bamboo  book-shelf  filled  with 
dust-covered  magazines.   The  floor  was  painted 
and  without  a  carpet.  A  solitary  and  unshaded  elec- 
tric bulb  had  been  left  burning,  presumably  for  the 
pujpose  of  some  future  spying  on  her. 

Sadie,  viewing  the  room  with  studious  eyes,  ac- 
knowledged to  herself  that  it  was  anything  but  in- 

Then  she  directed  her  thoughts  back  to  the  bonds 
whidi  heki  her  a  prisoner.  She  saw,  by  the  expedi- 
ent of  suddenly  kicking  up  her  heels,  that  a  white 
cotton  rope  remforced  by  a  trunk-strap  held  her 
ankles  together.  It  was  the  same  kind  of  rope,  she 
discovered,  that  was  used  for  many  a  housetop 
clothes-line.  And  judging  from  the  way  it  swathed 
and  circled  her  Umha,  there  had  been  an  ample  sup- 
ply of  it.  Yet  for  several  minutes  she  worked  dog- 
gedly and  valiantly  at  these  bonds,  trying  first  to 


300        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAP 

worry  her  hands  free,  and  then  her  feet  It  did  « 
take  her  long  to  discover  that  all  ludi  efforts  wei 
useless.  It  only  tired  her  body  and  added  to  th 
pain  in  her  shoulders.  And  after  all  her  struggl< 
there  was  no  appreciable  loosening  of  aqy  of  th 
strands  that  were  so  croelly  hiterfering  with  he 
circulation. 

She  by  back  on  the  box-coudi,  once  more  study 
ing  the  room  about  her.  From  time  to  time  her  eyi 
returned  to  the  de&4  palm  in  its  ugly  majolica  vase 
It  towered  above  her  in  its  comer,  as  melandK^ 
as  a  hearse-plume.  It  stood  a  monument  of  negiec 
and  abuse.  It  depressed  her  with  its  apiritlessness 
Its  pallid  and  withered  fronds  became  something  pa 
thetic  It  seemed  so  funereal  in  its  etiolated  dejec 
tion  that  she  turned  wearily  away  from  it 

Then  she  stared  back  at  the  dead  pahn,  for  it  ha<j 
suddenly  become  of  interest  to  her.  She  looked  a1 
it  long  and  pointedly,  with  her  fordiead  sli^tly 
wrinkled.  Then  she  took  a  deeper  breath.  It  wai 
almost  a  breath  of  relief.  For  on  the  faded  fronds 
of  that  dead  palm,  she  saw,  hung  her  one  and  only 
hope. 

She  wormed  her  way  to  the  edge  of  the  bex- 
conch,  letting  herself  drop  limply  to  the  floor. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  301 

by  much  writhing  and  working  of  her  torso  she 
placed  herself  in  position  for  rolling  towatd  the 
bamboo  table.  These  movements  were  painful.  But 
she  worked  both  methodically  and  patiently,  for  by 
this  time  she  had  arrived  at  a  definite  plan  of  action. 
And  as  she  rolled  toward  the  fragile-looking  bam- 
boo  table  she  did  so  with  all  the  vigor  at  her  com- 
mand.  She  bore  down  on  it,  in  fact,  with  ever  ac- 
celerating speed.  Instead  of  pausing  before  coming 
into  contact  with  its  spindle  legs,  her  rolling  body 
struck  .t  as  a  bowling-allej  ball  strikes  a  nine-pin. 

She  struck  with  sufficient  force  to  send  the  faded 
palm  and  its  ugly  majolica  vase  tumbling  to  th« 
floor.  As  it  tumbled  it  crashed  to  pieces. 
Instead  of  exhibiting  dismay  at  this  catastrophe, 
•  Sadie  Wimpel  turned  over  on  her  side,  waited  for 
the  cloud  of  dust  from  the  dried  earth  to  settle,  and 
then  viewed  the  ruins  with  cahnly  studious  eyes. 

The  bottom  of  the  vase,  she  noticed,  was  the 
largest  remaining  piece  of  majolica.  But  what  was 
more  important  for  her  purposes,  along  the  edge  of 
it  ran  a  shattered  edge  of  the  vase-side.  This  frag^ 
»nent  of  earthenware  she  bunted  and  shouldered  pa- 
tiently away  from  the  others.  She  did  so  very  mudi 
like  a  sea-lion  pushing  its  trick  baU  across  a  stags. 


302        THE  DCX>R  OP  DREAp 


But  Sadie,  for  all  the  ludicrous  abturdity  of  thoM 
movements  so  like  an  ainpliilMaii'i»  WM  nmr  man 

serious  in  her  life. 

When  she  had  disposed  the  fragment  of  Crocker] 
to  her  liking,  she  again  rolled  over  and  regarded  ii 
with  critical  eyes.  Then,  carefully  measuring  hei 
distance,  she  rolled  a,vay  from  it,  this  time  at  i 
slightly  different  angle.  But  on  this  occasion,  dis- 
regarding any  personal  discomfort  which  it  might 
involve,  she  rolled  completely  over  on  the  saw-edgi 
of  the  broken  majolica,  so  that  when  she  lay  faa 
upward  her  two  forearms,  tightly  tied  against  hei 
back  at  the  waist-line,  rested  on  the  jagged  edge 
of  the  earthenware.  Tlien,  witl:  a  series  of  movc< 
ments  even  more  undignified  than  her  earlier  ones, 
she  began  to  see-saw  her  tired  body  back  and  forth, 
making  sure  to  press  a  strand  or  two  of  the  oottou 
rope  against  the  serrated  edge  of  the  ^raae>«ide  M 
she  moved. 

It  took  much  patience  and  even  more  rtrengtH  of 
body.  But  by  this  time  she  was  worldng  in  that 
icy  calm  of  determination  which  is  the  sublimation 
of  indignant  rage.  She  was  no  longer  thinking  of 
herself.  She  was  thinking  only  of  what  stood  be* 
loreher.  ^ fhe coiikl not affoi^ |o lailt 


"She  sat  up,  warning  herself  to  be  cooL" 


THE  DOOK  of:  PREAI?  303 

Yet  she       compdled  to  stop  and  rest,  from 
tu.e  to  time,  for  her  position  was  a  strained  one 
an  i  her  body  «ras  tired.   She  continued  the  abra- 
sion of  the  cotton  fiber  pinioning  her  arms,  however, 
until  her  neck-cords  seemed  ready  to  crack.  Then 
she  rolled  wearily  over,  face  downward,  and  rested. 
Then  she  began  a  series  of  muscular  twists  and  tugs, 
worrying  at  the  swathings  that  bound  her  hands  be- 
hind her.  She  noticed,  as  she  tugged  and  worked, 
an  ever  increased  sense  of  relaxed  tension.  So  she 
continued  her  labors,  more  frenziedly  than  before. 
And  it  suddenly  came  home  to  her  that  her  cam- 
paign of  attrition  had  actually  severed  the  rope  that 
held  her  deadened  forearms  in  their  painfully  un- 
natural positicm. 

She  sat  up,  at  this  discovery,  warning  herself  to 
be  cool   But  her  body  was  stippled  with  nerve- 
qniws  as  she  worked  at  the  loosened  strands  stiU 
about  her  ariLs,  When  they  were  quite  free,  and 
the  bkxxi  was  tingling  and  needling  once  more 
thrw^  her  numbed  finger-ends,  she  sat  there  for 
several  luxurious  moments,  reveling  in  the  thought 
of  that  release.  The  one  thing  to  complete  her  hap- 
piness, she  felt,  was  a  glass  of  water,  For  by  this 
time  she  was  inexpressibly  thirsty, 


304        THE  DCX)R  OF  DREAD 


When  she  had  rested  sufficiently,  it  was  a  mattei 
of  much  less  difficulty  to  lean  forward  and  conquer 
first  the  trunk-strtip  and  then  the  knots  of  the  rope 
about  her  ankles.  This  too  brought  its  own  relief, 
though  it  was  several  moments,  she  found,  before 
she  could  regain  the  use  of  her  limbs.  At  first  she 
thought  they  were  paralyzed,  so  unresponding  they 
were  to  the  commands  of  will.  They  seemed,  in- 
deed, like  something  not  belonging  to  her  own  body. 
And  the  pain  became  as  sharp  as  the  pain  that  fol- 
lows frost-bite,  merging  from  a  muhitudinous  need- 
ling of  nerve-ends  into  a  dull  ache  of  discomfort 
But  she  persevered  in  her  exercises,  determuiedly 
working  the  fingers  of  one  hand  and  then  the  other. 
She  next  gave  her  attention  to  her  feet  When  these 
became  normal  she  crept  to  the  couch  and  lay  on  it 
full  length.  She  knew  that  she  was  once  inot«  free 
to  move.  And  for  that  primal  freedom  she  was 
not  ungrateful. 

But  she  did  not  remaui  idle  for  hag.  After  a 
brief  breathing-spell  she  was  on  her  feet  agaiiv 
busily  exploring  the  room.  The  wmdow,  she  had 
imagined,  would  be  the  vutocraMe  point  of  lier 
prison.  But  an  examination  of  ^'s  window  soon 
^wed  her  to  be  wrong.  It  was  not  only  shuttered 


THE  DOOR  of:  drear  305 

butitwasevensecurefybamd.  So  she  directed  her 
atttation  to  the  otlier  aide  of  the  room  where  the 
door  stood 

The  door  itself  was  not  encouraging.  But  above 
it  stood  a  transom,  the  glass  of  which  had  at  some 
time  been  replaced  by  a  heavy  wahiut  panel.  This 
transom,  she  fdt,  was  the  one  assailable  point  in 
the  enemy's  luM.  So  she  decided  to  storm  it. 

To  storm  it,  however,  was  not  an  altogether  easy 
matter.  But  Sadie's  wits  had  in  the  past  risen  to 
emergencies  even  greater  than  this.  She  stood  for 
a  moment  deep  in  thou^t  Then  she  quietly 
dragged  the  tapestry-covered  box-couch  toward  the 
door.  This  coimA  she  turned  over  and  stood  up  on 
end,  making  sure  it  was  firmly  fixed  against  the 
floor-boMds.  In  this  podtion,  she  had  already  de- 
dded,  the  exposed  rows  of  coil-springs  would  pro- 
vide her  with  a  sort  of  scaling-ladder,  unstable  per- 
haps, bi:^  still  possible. 

This  proved  to  be  the  case.  She  found  the  tran- 
som hdd  shut  by  tittce  nails  driven  into  the  door 
lintel;  and  it  todc  but  a  lew  minutes'  work  with  a 
piece  of  the  pabn-vase  to  work  these  nails  free  of 
the  wood  The  tfiasom,  once  these  were  removed, 
swnng  bMk  wttlioitt  trouble  and  showed  the  outer 


306        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

hall  to  be  in  darkness.  So  she  carefully  descended 
her  improvised  scaling-ladder,  looked  about  the 
room  and  proceeded  to  wrench  one  of  the  rocker- 
rods  from  the  antique  chair  that  stood  in  the  comer. 
This,  she  concluded,  would  serve  both  as  an  instru- 
ment of  defense  and  a  possible  weapon  of  assault, 
if  the  need  arose.  And  before  she  had  gone  far,* 
she  felt,  there  would  be  every  promise  of  that  need. 
She  also  broke  away  a  piece  of  the  dilapidated  bam- 
boo table,  to  serve  as  a  rod  to  hold  open  the  tran- 
som.  Then  she  twisted  and  knotted  her  two  lengths 
of  cotton  rope  together,  tying  one  end  securely  to 
the  door-knob  and  placing  the  other,  to  which  she 
had  already  tied  her  wooden  rodcer-rod,  within 
reach  at  the  couch-top.  Then,  having  slipped  off 
her  shoes  and  tied  them  about  her  neck,  she  switched 
out  the  light  and  groped  her  way  back  toward  the 
door. 

She  dambered  up  the  treacherous  spring-tiers  as 
best  she  could,  cautiously  fedhig  for  the  transom. 
Having  swung  it  open,  she  placed  her  bamboo  sup- 
port beneath  it  She  next  reached  for  the  rocker- 
rod  tied  to  the  rope-end,  carefully  k>wering  it 
through  the  opened  transom.  Then  she  took  a  deep 
IfftttSi,  for  At  knew  Hk  haadttt  put  of  her  task 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  W 

was  still  ahead  of  her.  To  emerge  head  down  from 
a  transom  seven  feet  high  is  no  easy  matter.  But 
to  do  this  encumbered  with  skirts,  half  choked  with 
dust  and  in  utter  darkness,  takes  unto  itself  the  na- 
ture  of  both  an  exercise  in  audacity  and  an  adven- 
ture in  acrobatics. 

But  Sadie  knew  her  possibilities.  As  she  slowly 
and  silently  vermiculated  over  the  dust-covered 
door-lintel  she  retained  her  hold  on  the  cotton  rope. 
She  emerged,  head  down,  until  her  knees  were  free 
of  the  crossbar.  Then,  pivoting  on  the  taut  rope, 
she  swung  about  with  a  cat-like  twist  of  the  body, 
describing  an  aerial  cart-wheel  and  dropping  quietly 
if  a  little  dazed  on  the  carpeted  floor  of  the  hall. 
She  was  on  her  feet  in  a  moment,  untying  her 
rocker-rod  from  the  rope-end.  The  latter  she  tossed 
lightly  back  through  the  open  transom.  Then  ith 
her  rod  she  pushed  away  the  piece  of  bamboo  hold- 
ing up  the  hinged  panel,  the  latter  swinging  back 
into  place  as  the  bamboo  stick  dropped  back  into 
the  room  from  which  she  had  escaped. 

Then  the  giri  turned  and  stood  with  her  back  to 
the  door,  straining  her  eyes  through  the  darkness, 
with  her  aural  nerves  acutely  alert,  with  even  her 
moist  skin-surfaces  sensitized  to  atmospheric  im- 


30t        THB  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

prcssions,  and  with  nostrils  distended,  like  a  winM 
moose  sniffing  for  some  hint  of  its  pursuers. 

She  could  hear  and  see  nothing.  But  her  over- 
dclicate  olfactory  nerves  warned  her  of  the  immi- 
nence of  others.  The  signs  of  this  were  devious 
and  diffused.  And  faint  but  unmiitakable  on  the 
musty  air  ioated  the  smell  of  tobteoo-imolce.  For 
once  in  her  life  she  found  that  aroma  anything  but 
tranquilizing.  Her  mouth  sas  dry,  and  more  tlwi 
ever  the  thought  of  long  and  cooling  dnimlifi 
pealed  to  her.  When  she  got  to  a  water-n^  ^ 
told  herself,  she  would  drink  like  a  camel 

She  was  not  content,  however,  to  remain  k»g 
active.  So  with  one  hand  extended  she  advaneed 
slowly  and  noiselessly  through  the  Harlm^  ,|o^ 
ping  at  every  step  or  two  to  listen  and  then  goii^ 
on  again.   The  absence  of  both  aound  and  light 
tended  to  disturb  her.  It  left  cveiy  doorwi^  aa 
imminent  menace  and  evefj  comer  a  poarible  aaH 
bush.  Her  groping  fingers  came  in  contact  wiA  a 
door-frame,  yet  she  was  afraid  to  torn  the 
Darkness  had  impoted  on  her  its  acomndatioii  of 
uncertainties.   She  even  began  to  entertain  exaf- 
gerated  ideas  of  dtstaacs^  i^^p'^ing  tiiat  she  had 


.THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD! 


309 


traversed  scores  of  feet  where  she  had  covered  only 
as  many  inches. 

Still  again,  as  she  advanced  on  her  shoeless  feet, 
she  OKOttntered  the  square  of  a  door-frame  be- 
tween which  she  could  feel  the  panels  of  the  closed 
aoor  itself.  She  explored  it  with  fastidious  fin- 
ger-tips, wondering  what  could  lay  behind  it. 

She  was  standing  close  in  beside  it,  with  one  ear 
ipressed  btently  against  its  panel,  when  a  sudden 
sound  startled  her.  She  could  hear  the  rattle  and 
cUnk  of  porti^re-rings  and  the  sound  of  a  key  be- 
ing quickly  turned  in  a  lock.  The  next  moment  a 
door  opened  and  a  fulcrum  of  light  cascaded  out 
across  tl»  darkness  of  the  hallway. 

It  was  the  door,  she  saw,  past  which  she  had  so 
recently  and  so  innocently  worked  her  way.  It  was 
wide  open  by  this  time,  and  two  figures  had  stepped 
ont  into  tiie  hall.  One  was  Keudell  and  the  other 
was  Aadehnan.  She  had  a  clear  vision  of  them  in 
silhoiwtte,  and  ut  the  same  time  her  quick  eye  caught 
sight  of  the  banister  and  the  stair-head  for  which 
she  had  bmi  seardiing;  not  five  paces  away  from 
her. 

InstiKtivtly  jphf  flat^owd  her  hodj  ^'nst  the 


310        THE  DOOR  OF]  DREAD! 


paneled  door,  pressing  as  deep  into  tht  shadow  of  its 
frame  as  she  could.  She  saw  Keudell,  with  his  hat 
already  on  his  head,  step  toward  the  stairs.  She 
saw  Andeln'an  reach  out  a  hand  to  grasp  the  ban- 
ister before  the  closing  door  behind  hun  again  left 
the  hallway  in  darkness.  She  heard  the  sound  of 
the  lock  and  the  second  clink  and  tinkle  of  the  por- 
tiere-rings. And  she  knew  that  this  door  on  her 
right  had  been  locked  by  some  <mt  still  within  Hht 
room.  She  could  at  the  same  time  hear  the  stqw 
of  the  two  men  descending  the  stairs. 

She  stood  listening  intently,  for  the  directibn  of 
their  advance  was  a  matter  of  vast  moment  to  her. 
Before  those  steps  reached  the  bottom  of  the  stairs, 
however,  she  heard  them  come  to  a  stop.  She 
caught  a  whispered  word  or  two  and  then  the  sound 
of  the  men  as  they  hurriedly  reascended  the  treads, 
stopped  again  and  listened.  At  the  same  time,  from 
sc»newhere  below-stairs,  she  heard  the  duU  tirad  <^ 
a  door  being  quickly  closed. 

While  she  stood  ^)eculating  as  to  whetW  or  f»ot 
this  could  be  the  street-door  whidi  had  suddenly 
opened  and  shut,  a  vague  flare  of  li^t  showed  some- 
where deep  in  the  well  of  the  stairway.  This  brou^ 
her  cre^ng  forward  to  Utt  banister.  Then  she 


THE  DCXDR  OF  DREAD  311 

knew  her  surmise  had  been  right ;  some  one  had  en- 
tered from  the  street  and  was  now  striking  a  match, 
either  to  make  sure  of  his  whereabouts  or  to  guide 
the  mamier  of  his  advance.  The  uncertain  light  of 
that  burning  match  showed  her  one  other  tableau. 
This  was  Keudell,  half-way  up  the  stairs,  with  a  re- 
volver in  his  hand  and  Andelman  crouching  close 
behmd  him.  He  stood  poised  and  menacing,  as 
though  prepared  for  any  emergency.  But  a  gasp 
that  was  half  anger  and  half  relief  burst  from  him 
as  the  matdi  burned  up. 

"Easy  there  I"  suddenly  called  out  the  man  with 
the  match-end.  And  as  he  spoke  Sadie  Wimpel 
knew  it  was  the  big  man  who  had  held  her  down  in 
the  taxicab.  He  had  obviously  just  caught  si^t 
of  his  colleague  with  the  leveled  firearm. 

"What  the  devil  do  you  mean  by  coming  in  that 
way?"  demanded  Andelman.  "Without  a  word  of 
warning?** 

"It's  the  only  way  I  had  time  fori" 
"What's  wrong?'* 

"Listen:  he's  got  Spike's  driver.  In  ten  minutes 
they'll  be  hot  on  this  trail  1" 
"Who  has?" 
"Wilsnachhasl" 


312        THK  DCX)R  OF  DREAD 


"HeU  I"  said  KetsdeU.  out  of  the  tikiice. 

But  Sadie,  at  the  sound  of  that  name,  knew  i 
sudden  sense  of  released  tension.  She  breatho 
deep.  Wilsnach  had  captured  their  taxi-drivei 
Then  Wilsnach  was  free  f  A  toft  and  warnimi 
glow  crept  through  her  body  and  left  her  indeter 
minately  dizzy  with  hope.  They  had  lied  to  hei 
from  the  first.  Wilsnach  was  not  a  prisoner  witl 
her  in  that  house.  He  had  been  too  clever  fo 
them.  He  had  trumped  their  ace  and  captured  theii 
own  driver.  And  he  would  be  after  diem,  any  timi 
now,  hot-foot  Ike.  For  that  was  Wilsnadi*s  way 

She  could  hear  the  sound  of  stq»  again. 

"What  are  we  going  to  do?"  asked  Anddmai 
out  of  the  darkness. 

It  was  the  big  man  who  spoke  next 

"You've  got  to  beat  it  out  of  hete,  and  beat  it 
quick!" 

"But  why?" 

"I  tell  you  this  house  ain't  safe!  They'll  third- 
degree  that  driver  until  he  can't  keep  his  trap  shutf 

"Supposing  he  doesn't!" 

"It  means  you've  got  to  scatter  f 

"And  it  means,"  con^ned  Andefanan,  *'a  fine 
ntts»ng  t^  of  this  thingf 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  313 

Again  Vere  was  a  brief  interlude  of  iiknoe.  Sft- 
die,  listening  above,  strained  for  every  word.  "And 
it  will  be  a  worse  mess,  unless  we  get  away  from 

here!" 

It  was  Keudell  speaking  at  last  He  did  to  with- 
out  apparent  alarm,  almost  meditatively.  He  strode 
a  match  and  looked  at  his  watdi.  Then  he  spoke 
again.  "Give  the  word  to  Breitmaa  and  HeiaokL 
And  make  it  wher«  I  saidP* 

"London?" 

"Yes!" 

"London  in  six  days.  Am  I  ri^?" 

"That  is  right.  But  remember  tiiat  m  am 
watched.  Go  by  Aray  of  St.  Louis  and  take  die 
Wabash  back.  Drop  off  at  Detroit  and  hang  over 
in  Bartholomew's  rooming-house  in  East  Feny 
Street  until  you  get  word  from  me." 

"And  you  ?"  asked  Anddman. 

"I  will  go  by  the  river,  with  McKensie.  That  is 
the  only  way  left  for  me— with  McKensie  as  far  as 
Kingston,  in  the  launch,  and  then  the  Lackawanna  r 

"But  where  in  London?" 

That  question  remained  for  the  moment  unan- 
swered for  the  door  at  the  stah^-head  abov«  them 
suddenly  opened  and  the  cautbus  but  hiquisitive 


314         THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


head  of  Wallab/  Sam  appeared  in  the  vague  thaf 

of  light. 

"We're  in  for  a  rumble  1"  Andelman  called  warn 

ingly  up  to  him. 

Wallaby  Sam  shuffled  out  on  the  landing.  Hi! 
was  the  only  figure  plainly  visible  to  the  watching 
girl.  More  than  ever,  with  his  rounded  paunch  and 
his  r  jmpled-up  hair-fringe  and  rubicund  face,  he 
looked  like  a  blithe-spirited  old  robin  finally  driven 
into  a  dejection  for  which  he  had  not  been  fash- 
ioned. 

He  pursed  his  heavy  lips  up  in  a  dolorous  whistle, 
blinking  meditatively  down  into  the  rfarWim  where 
the  other  three  men  were  grouped. 

"You'll  have  to  hurry  I"  once  more  warned  the 
big  man. 

"But  where  in  London?"  repeated  Andehnan,  al- 
most fretfully. 

"The  Tecumseh  House.  And  have  Heinold— " 
He  did  not  finish,  for  Wallaby  Sam  was  calling 

down  to  him.  "How  about  that  girl?" 

It  was  Andelman  who  answered.         :  God's 

sake  don't  holler  so  loud!  And  why  can't  we  have 

some  light  here?" 

.    It  was  Keudell's  voice,  cahn  and  authoritattvi^ 


.THE  DCX>&        DREAQ  31S 

which  tpoli*  abmw  AadiftMi's  whimper.  "Bring 
Hetaold  dows  here  eo  we  caa  talk  this  thing  out." 

Wallaby  Sam,  wA  a  frusn^  tamed  and  shuffled 
back  into  ^  ligfttdl  roooL 

"1  tell  yoa  jm  hsvcn't  time  for  debating  socie- 
ties aromid  dii  hooaef  You're  steering  for  a  fall  I" 

It  was  the  h^  man  of  tiie  taxi  who  spoke. 

••Whea  Utose  guys  hit  us.  they'll  hit  heavy.  You 
leave  Ae  girl  to  me.  'can  have  her  held  for  a  cou- 
ple of  wadn,  and  wi»u. ,  oo  send  the  word  I'll—" 

StiB  agirfB  he  brdee  off  for  Wallaby  Sam  and 
HaiMll  weie  groping  and  stumbling  their  way 
down  tf»  §taia»  They  had  switched  out  the  light 
bdundtiwm,  Sadie  noticed,  but  they  had  not  stopped 
to  kxic  ^  door.  Of  that  she  was  positive.  And 
on  Hat  die  built  her  hopes. 

She  aiAed  notaelessly  along  the  wall,  working 
her  way  step  by  cautious  step  toward  the  stair- 
head. Her  movements  were  equally  deliberate  as 
Ae  groped  for  the  door-knob,  caressed  it  between 
htr  strong  young  fingers  and  carefully  turned  it. 
As  she  expected,  it  yielded  and  swung  back  to  her 
pressure.  She  slipped  inside  and  with  a  silence  bom 
of  Ini^te  pre«ustton  closed  and  rebdced  the  door, 
feavmgthe  key  in  the  k>ck. 


316        THE  DOOR  OF;  DREAD 


It  disturbed  her,  as  she  did  so,  to  find  that  thi 
sound  of  a>nferriz^  voicn  was  no  longer  reMhinj 
her.  But  her  first  aim,  once  she  was  lodred  in  ths 
room,  was  to  find  the  light-switch.  So  she  gropec 
and  padded  about  as  a  blind  woman  might,  follow 
ing  the  line  of  the  walls  and  eq>Ioring  eveiy  pita 
of  furniture  with  which  she  caxat  in  cxmtatL  It 
was  several  minutes  before  she  came  to  an  opec 
roll-top  desk  on  ixdiidi  stood  a  readh^-lamp.  h 
another  moment  or  two  she  had  discovered  tin 
switdi  and  turned  on  the  light. 

She  found  herself  in  a  sparsely-fumidwd  rooa 
whidi  had  ai^Kuently  been  fitted  up  as  an  dke 
A  telephone-directory  <ni  the  desk-top  in  front  oi 
her  sent  her  drcUng  about  the  chamber  for  a  tele- 
phone, but  ncme  was  to  be  f  otmd  m  the  room.  She 
could  not  even  unearth  a  trace  of  wiring.  So  ^ 
returned  to  the  desk.  There,  beside  the  telq^ione- 
book,  stood  a  box  of  cigarettes  and  a  niatch-lK>kier. 
For  (me  Inief  mon^  tttt  looked  hesitatingly  st 
the  cigarettes,  then  began  a  hurried  yet  nethodk 
search  of  the  desk-drawers. 

But  these  she  found  practioifiy  empty.  It  ym 
not  until  she  came  to  die  bottom  drawer  on  the 
right-hand  nde  du^  her  fean^  vu  in  an^  ^y  re-^ 


THE  DOOK  OF  DREAD  317 


warded.  In  this  drawer  she  found  an  automatic 
pistol  and  several  clips  of  cartridges.  And  a  small 
wave  of  satisfaction  sped  through  her  tired  body  as 
she  possessed  herself  of  this  weapon.  For  now, 
she  knew,  the  fight  would  not  be  sudi  a  one^ded 
one. 

She  was  standing  deep  in  thought  again, 
the  gunmetal  weapon  in  her  hand  when  a  sudden 
sound  arrested  her.    She  heard  the  knob  of  her 
door  turn  and  then  move  more  vigorously,  as 
though  tugged  at  by  an  impatient  hand. 

"Who  locked  this  door?"  demanded  a  muffled 
voice  from  the  hall.  She  knew  it  was  Wallaby  Sam 
speaking.  She  heard  him  step  to  the  stair-banister 
and  call  down  to  his  companions  in  the  lower  regions 
of  the  house.  Then  came  the  sound  of  answering 
voices,  hushed  and  hurried,  and  the  further  sound 
of  quick  steps  on  the  stairs  and  past  the  door  bdiitid 
which  she  stood. 

At  any  time  now,  she  surmised,  they  would  dis- 
cover the  fact  of  her  escape.  And  that  would 
promptly  solve  for  them  the  mystery  of  the  locked 
door.  S3  she  knew  that  she  would  have  to  be 
ready.  Their  work,  she  concluded,  would  be  hur- 
ried, and  being  hurried,  would  be  rtdbiegg. 


318 


THE  DOOR  of:  DR£AQ 


They  could  advance,  she  knew,  only  by  way  of 
the  door  behind  which  she  stood.  So  she  carefully 
wheeled  about  the  roll-top  desk  and  in  front  of  it 
placed  the  chairs  which  stood  in  the  room. 

From  thia  ambuscade,  she  felt,  she  could  at  least 
keep  things  interesting,  as  long  as  her  cartridge- 
clips  held  out,  at  any  rate.  For,  this  time,  she  knew, 
she  could  expect  no  quarter  from  them.  She  was 
not  ignorant  of  Keudell's  record  and  his  character. 
He  would  never  give  her  another  chance. 

She  waited  with  the  calmness  of  the  unimag- 
inative young  animal  that  she  jvas,  still  further  nar- 
cotized by  sheer  physical  weariness.  She  waited 
with  her  eyes  on  the  locked  door  and  her  pistol  in 
her  hand.  She  even  forgot  her  thirst.  One  de- 
termined assault  on  those  panels,  she  knew,  would 
easily  carry  them  away.  So  she  decided  that  it 
would  be  better,  on  the  .whole,  jko  have  the  light 
turned  off. 

She  reached  oul  for  ffie  switcK.  'As  She  aid  so 
her  eyes  fell  on  the  box  of  cigarettes.  A  wayward 
temptation  to  take  one  of  them  up  and  light  it  pos- 
sessed her.  But  the  business  on  hand,  she  remem- 
bered, was  too  serious  for  trifling.  So  she  switched 
out  the  light  and  stood  in  the  darkness,  waiting. 


JH£  DOOR  of;  dread 


319 


And  as  she  waited  she  remembered  that  she  was 
very  thirsty. 

The  tension  of  her  position  also  began  to  tell  on 
her  tired  body.  She  found  standing  irksome.  So 
she  groped  her  way  about  the  desk  and  lifted  one 
of  the  chairs  back  next  to  the  wall  which  enfiladed 
her.  She  sat  down  in  this  chair,  with  the  auto- 
matic still  in  her  hand,  still  waiting. 

She  tlKnight  she  hear^  a  vague  sound  or  two,  but 
of  this  At  could  not  be  sure.   The  silence  tended 
to  unnerve  her.    She  became  obsessed  with  the 
though  that  vast  and  intricate  tissues  of  intrigue 
were  bemg  woven  on  the  looms  of  silence  about  her. 
Countless  ghostly  contingencies,  as  the  minutes 
dragged  on,  stood  serried  and  sinister  in  the  gloom 
above  her.  Inactivity  became  an  ache.  The  fingers 
of  her  restless  left  hand  toyed  for  a  moment  with 
the  open  cigarette-box  on  the  desk-top.   She  took 
up  one  of  the  tiny  cylinders,  tapped  its  end  against 
the  desk-edge  and  tried  to  moisten  it  with  her  lips. 
Then  her  hand  went  back  to  the  match-holder.  She 
sat  motionless  for  a  minute  or  two,  hemmed  in  by 
the  velvety  blackness  about  her.  Then  she  delib- 
erately took  up  a  match,  struck  it  and  lighted  the 
cigarette  which  still  drooped  from  between  her  lips. 


320        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


She  sighed  at  the  second  puff.  It  almost  made  he 
forget  her  thirst  again.  She  was  in  the  act  of  ex 
haling  the  third  luxurious  puff  when  she  suddenl; 
leaned  forward,  rising  from  her  chair  as  she  did  so 
It  was  at  the  same  moment  that  the  sudden  crasl 
came  that  she  leveled  her  pistol  and  pulled  the  trig 
ger.  For  she  knew  that  the  door  had  been  suddenlj 
broken  in,  that  her  enemies  were  already  througl 
that  door  and  advancing  on  her.  It  came  home  tc 
her  consciousness,  at  the  same  instant,  that  then 
had  been  no  detonations  from  her  fire-arm.  There 
had  been  the  snap  of  metal  against  metal,  and  that 
was  an.  She  had  scarcely  time  to  realize  that  her 
automatic  was  empty,  that  she  had  neglected  to 
slip  m  a  dip,  before  she  heard  a  voice  calling  out, 
a  Uttic  thick  with  excitement :  *Tve  g-t  'em!  They're 
herer 

She  groped  frenaedly  about  for  the  clips  of 
artridges.  As  she  did  so  the  tevel  ray  of  a  flash- 
light exploded  across  the  darkness  of  the  room,  and 
the  voice  cried  out  for  the  second  time. 

"Stick  up  your  hands  there  I  Stick  'em  up  quick !" 

It  was  not  the  savagery  with  which  these  words 
were  tittered  that  appalled  her.  It  was  the  fact  that 
ih^  were  spoken  by  WUsmch  himself. 


THE  POOR  OF!  DREAD  321 

For  one  moment  the  flash-light  wavered  about  the 
room  and  then  centered  white  and  clear  on  her 
startled  face.  She  sank  weakly  back  in  her  chair, 
with  the  cigarette  still  drooping  from  her  slightly 
parted  lips. 

She  heard  Wilsnach's  exclamation  of  "Good 
God !"  as  she  reached  forward  and  switched  on  the 
electric-lamp.  She  could  see  the  light  shine  on  his 
revolver  barrel.  He  was  without  a  hat  or  coat,  and 
his  eyes,  in  the  sudden  light,  were  ridiculously  round 
and  blinking. 

"Wh— where  are  they?"  he  rather  vacuously  de- 
manded. In  the  doorway  behind  him,  Sadie  saw, 
stood  Romano  of  the  city  force,  with  a  gunmctal 
automatic  in  his  hand. 

•*Where  are  they?"  repeated  Wilsnach. 

Kestner  himself  swimg  in  past  Romano  as  Wils- 
nach stood  still  regarding  her. 

"Didn't  you  get  'em?"  shrilled  Sadie. 

"Get  who  ?"  demanded  Kestner. 

"Keudell  and  the  others !" 

**Nor' 

"They're  in  this  house  then !" 
Kestner  suddenly  relaxed  and  sank  into  a  chair. 
Then  he  shook  his  head.  "They  can't" 


322        JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

**Bat  diey  were  here  not  ten  nsnntes  ago— anc 
I  ous^itta  knowT  , 

Kestner  still  was  dobrously  shaking  his  heac 
from  side  to  side.  They've  made  their  get-away !' 

Sadie  leaned  bade  in  ber  chair.  Wilsnach  came 
forward  a  step  or  two  and  gently  took  the  auto- 
matic from  her  somewhat  shaky  right  hand.  He 
looked  at  it  curiously.  Then  he  k)oked  even  more 
cmionsly  into  her  white  face  with  the  disturbingly 
febrile  i^itter  about  the  weary-kwking  eyes.  The 

cigarette  was  still  in  her  hand.  She  stared  down  at 
it  guiltily. 

"HuUy  gee,"  she  said  with  listless  insolence.  "I 
said  rd  cut-out  the  sniokin',  didn't  I?" 

No  one  ^poke  as  she  laus^ed,  quite  without  mirth. 
•*Well,  I  guess  I  earned  this  coffin-nail,  all  rightl 
For  Fve  had  quite  a  night  of  it  r 

Kestner,  with  tiie  btttemess  of  defeat  in  his  bkxidi, 
swung  half  angrily  about  on  her. 

"You  seem  to  tinnk  aH  this  was  engineered  for 
your  amusement  r 

Sadie  sn^kd     at  him. 

"It  kxikt  fuw^  t*  mer  die  announoed, 
"Whatdocsr 


■3 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAQ  323 

The  way  yuh  keep  lettin*  that  bunch  get  hr 
yuhr 

Kestner  was  in  no  mood  to  enoottrage  such  levity. 
**Could  you  handle  this  case  any  better  ?"  was  his 
curt  demand. 


reply. 


"I  guess  mebbe  I  could,**  was  the  girl's  languid 


'*Thm  why  don't  you  try  it?** 
Sadie  blew  a  ring  of  smoke  ce 


iilingward.  She 
moment  or  two 


watdied  it  meditatively,  for  a  silent 

"I  guest  mebbe  that's  what  I*n  have  to  do  I"  she 
finally  dedarad. 


flit 

1 


CHAPTER  FOURTEEN 


IT  WAS  five  days  later  that  Miss  Mabel  Poole, 
six  short  wedcs  out  of  her  Victoria  Hospital 
training-school,  found  herself  alone  with  a  patient 
And  the  first  point  that  made  itself  apparent  to  the 
young  trained  nurse  was  that  this  patient's  room  was 
disturbingly  dark.  The  second  point  that  came  to  her 
attention  was  that  this  darkness  seemed  crowded 
with  cut  flowers,  giving  it  the  heavy  air  of  a  hot- 
house. And  the  third  fact  to  impress  itself  on  her 
was  that  the  bell-boy  who  had  carried  her  bag  down 
the  hotel  hallway  had  not  waited  for  his  tip.  He  had 
gone,  and  in  going  had  softly  dosed  the  bedroom 
door  behind  him.  In  that  flight,  she  felt,  there  was 
something  disquieting  and  stealthy;  it  was  like  being 
treacherously  abandoned  by  her  last  ally. 

Miss  Mabel  Poole's  apprehensions  as  to  that  ty- 
rannical new  patient  of  hers  did  not  decrease  as  she 
stared  across  the  darkened  room.    She  was,  in 

524 


(£HE  DOOR  Oir  DREAQ  32S 

fact,  the  second  nurse  to  be  called  in.  The  first 
one,  she  had  been  told  at  the  register  in  Strong's 
drug-store,  had  been  unceremoniously  bundled  back 
within  the  hour  of  her  arrival.  The  sick  woman 
had  disliked  her  personality.  And  Miss  Poole, 
being  still  young  and  ardent,  did  not  wish  to  share 
her  fate.  So,  nursing  a  human  distaste  for  defeat, 
she  squared  her  young  shoulders  to  the  situation 
with  the  solemn  cheerfulness  of  youth. 

"Wouldn't  you  like  a  little  air  in  here?"  was  her 
gently  persuasive  suggestion  as  she  turned  to  open 
her  hand-bag. 

The  scarcely  discernible  figure  on  the  bed  did  not 
move. 

"Are  yuh  the  new  nurse  ?"  asked  a  weak  and  qua- 
vering voice. 

Miss  Poole,  as  she  buckled  on  her  fragile  armor 
of  nurse's  gingham,  acknowledged  that  she  was. 
Then  she  crossed  to  the  windows.  But  a  sudden 
command  arrested  her. 

"I  don't  want  those  shutters  opened!"  called  out 
the  querulous-voiced  woman  on  the  bed. 

The  newcomer  stood  thoughtful  for  a  moment 
or  two.  "But  I  think  we  could  do  much  better  with 
a  Uttle  light"  She  spokt  softly;  but  it  :iias  ifa^ 


326        7H£  DOOR  01^  DREAD. 


rustling  softnett  of  a  bocage  tliat  madct  a  tnidiin»» 

gitn. 

'Then  twitcb  on  that  wall  light  beside  the  dresser 
there!"  was  the  invalid's  petulant  concessicm. 

Miss  Poole  swstdied  on  the  wan  lig^  Hermind* 
as  she  did  so,  pmnptly  reverted  to  restrainmg- 
sheets,  for  she  was  possessed  of  the  dan^ening 
suspicion  that  she  was  straddled  with  a  road  actress 
in  the  twilight  wont  of  delkium  irement.  But  this 
was  only  the  girl's  second  case :  and  she  was  anxious 
not  to  fail  on  it 

"Did  Doctor  Wihon  leave  any  instructions?''  she 
asked,  as  a  matter  of  form.  For  Bht  was  disagree* 
ably  oonsdous  that  die  patksnt's  head,  raised  from 
the  piUow,  had  been  studiously  regarding  her  from 
the  dim  lig^t  of  the  bed-comer.  The  hivalid,  Miss 
Poole  observed,  was  a  somewhat  younger  vroman 
than  she  had  expected 

''I  guess  aiqr  instmctioas  yuh  get  vHH  be  comm' 
f  rcMn  me  f  was  the  patient's  announcement.  A  toot' 
dant  sense  of  huniMr  seemed  to  relieve  her  w(»rds 
of  their  posniblf  bntskness. 

Then  st^posing  we  see  if  wa  can't  make  yon 
more  comfortaWe,**  suggested  the  young  nurse,  re- 
numbering her  trainuigHKhocl  procedure. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD.  327 


Her  pttient,  hcmem,  nther  itartled  iitf 
denly  tittiiig  up  in  bed,  with  «  vigoroiit  fling  of  the 
coverings  tliat  tent  them  over  the  f  ooC4MMrd  And 
the  quenslotii  whimper  htd  oompletely  gone  from 
that  pfttienf  s  voice; 

"Sit  down  r  the  oommuded. 

Misi  Pode.  after  four  weeld  on  her  lee^  jwi  not 
unwilling  to  ntdowa 
"Are  yuh  a  trained  aitner 
"Yeir 

"And  a  Canadian?" 
"Year 

"Where  do  yvH  come  liomr 
"Lucan." 

"Where's  Locanr 

"A  few  ndks  oirt  of  Londoo." 

This,  and  still  anodier  thoqglitftil  Impectioa  of 
the  giri's  face,  seemed  to  reassore  the  woman  on 
thebed. 

"Was  your  hst  case  a  hard  oner 

".^ther.  It  was  a  boy  with  typ'ioid.  I  had  to 
be  both  day  and  ni|^  mrse-^and  he  diedr 

"Well,  yuh  won't  see  me  fdlow  his  exan^let  And 
yuh  look  tifeder  than  I  do,  ri^  wt  ^ 

"X  am  tuedr  admowie^  tiw  gift 


328        THE  DOOR  OF  jmMhD 


"Then  what's  the  wKHr  widi  an  easy  cr  f  thU 
time,  with  a  room  o'  your  own,  and  a  threa4KMr 
taxi  ride  every  afteflKK»?" 

A  look  of  alarm  promf^  came  into  Misa  Poole's 

honei;l  lOntarian  eyes. 

"I'm  a  trained  i   rse,"  she  primly  aanotmced. 

"Well,  ttat's  what  I  took  yuh  for! 

"Bi^  you  are  not  ill,'  protetttd  tba  giri  m  tb; 
striped  hkat  and  white  uniform. 

The  woman  on  the  bed  laughed  a  little 

"Oh,  yes,  i  ami  I  gotta  be!  For  thr  c  or  fou 
iifaiyt  I'm  gmi*  ^  be  tlie  sickest  woman  in  this  b^  Jc- 
woods  town  o'  yours.  A&d  if  I'm  uoi  I  gam^  I've 
gctta  have  a  nur  e." 

"I  don't  quite  uaderstwd,"  ffoteiti  ^aea- 
dian  girl. 

"What'?  your  name?** 

"Mabel  roole." 

"All  right,  Mabel.  ikt  ■  ^  l^xjfc'^— a  d  Vm 
some  judge  o' maps!  p  is  oryu  re  ^  hon- 
est as  d  ylight  and  I  ihaow  it  A^  if  oh  dom't 
think  the  same  about  me,  yuh  can  i  su  e  o'  -  «■ 
first  week  s  salary  1^  tak<n'  a  doub..  fee  from 
daHnoi  ^  coin  hag  over  ikt  e  on  tbe  dretierr' 

**Bm  T  wm  mai.       to  ti^  c»re  of  a  patieirt." 


THE  TOOR  OF  DREAD  329 


tke,  but  yvii'n  tiw  finicky-fingered  kid  I  Now, 
homy  dHA,  jnh  Intai  to  me.  Yuh're  honest,  and 
I  'm  gotti'  to  be  honest  with  yuh.  That's  the  best 
^  ay,  isn't  it?^ 

'*!  Atflk  so,"  answeied  the  girf. 

^  to  begin  with,  I'm  a  i  'ant.  I'm  a  pUnt 
md  n>  -\m  xtort/* 

"A  sehc  d  the  girl  in  the  uniform.  She 

WIS  oegii    ag  to    2e  daylight    Here,  after  all, 

m  icmentia  with  deltisions.  Here  was  a  human 
bciBg  aOmlly  userting  herself  to  be  a  member  of 
tltt  vegetable  kingdom. 

1  meaii,"MabeI,  I'm  in  t^  lUsh-league  burg  o' 
yotM  on  secret  service." 

**Oa  secret  service  f"  repeate  irl 

Toh  ate't  hep  to  what  that  s?** 

The  head  imder  the  nurse's  cap  moved  slowly 
from  dde  to  side. 

"D*yuh  know  what  a  gumshoe  is  ?" 

"No.- 

**Well,  I'm  one,"  answered  the  woman  on  the 
bed.  1  mean  I'm  here  actip'  for  the  federal  au- 
thorities at  Washington.  And  in  our  country,  Ma- 
bel, that's  about  the  same  as  actin'  for  the  l^iftg 
and  queen  of  all  the  British  £minre<" 


330        THE  DOOK  OF!  DREAD 


"And  what  mtat  you  do?**  asked  the  girl,  ttndjr- 

UIk  uI6  WOmBu  on  wlC  DCQ  WlIU  IIHBIBWWl  DOS  lull 
VSICOtBpSOBUMXOg  tyt%. 

"I  gotta  stay  bttrkdr* 

She  nnikd  at  the  girl's  returaing  kxdc  of  ahurm. 
"I  gotta  stay  huried  in  this  hotel  until  four  or  fire 
o*  the  biggest  crooks  that  ever  wore  shoe-leather 
sneak  into  this  town  for  a  secret  conference.** 

'"That  sounds  like  mcvii^  {Mctures,"  saki  the 
young  nune,  witn  oer  conictnpiative  eyes  stiii  sicep" 
ticaL 

It  s  g(x  novur  pictures  stm^  to  HiifH|  tor  tnat 
bundi  is  so  bad  they  daren't  all  get  h^  oae  town, 
in  our  country,  without  bein*  saelt  out  So  thcy*Te 
had  to  beat  it  up  across  tlw  bolder,  loiiie  from  tiit 
East  and  some  from  the  West  And  Fve  had  the 
straii^t  tip  that  Aqr're  foin^  to  meet  her«,  r^^ 
here  hi  tfua  hold.  As  I  say,  tiicy  were  leeiy 
bundihif  up  anywheres  hi  the  States.  And  fittle 
Sadie  is  goin*  to  gather  'em  aB  hL  She^a  fofai'  to 
do  it  widi  her  fitOe  hatchet,  first  crack  oat  o'  tiie 
box.  And  when  W&on  and  Danids  and  Ae  oAer 
big  guns  are  gerry  to  what  Fvt  dooe  ikgfn 

u>  WmK  QOWB  WiOt^B  Bar  gOIQ  tO  imBB        OB  • 

Sertke  medal     siia  of  a  soup-phinr 


( 


THE  DCX)R  OF.  DREAQ  331 

There  were  moments  when  the  younger  woman's 
mmd  seemed  unable  to  follow  the  Gargantuan  foot- 
steps of  her  companion. 

''Do  you  mean  you  are  going  to  arrest  all  these 

*Tm  goin*  to  do  more'n  arrest  'em.  I'ni  goin' 
to  extradict  'em  and  have  'em  go  home  with  irons 
on,  and  get  the  life  sentence  they've  been  workin' 
overtime  to  earn." 

The  alarm  on  the  young  nurse's  face  dfd  not  ap- 
preciably decrease. 

"And  what  am  I  to  do  with  all  this?" 

Sadie  Wimpel  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  swing- 
ing her  feet.  She  even  smiled  a  little,  for  she  felt 
sure  that  she  knew  her  woman. 

"Yuh're  goin'  to  be  my  gay-cat" 

"Your  what?" 

"Yuh're  goin'  to  act  as  my  stick-up.  And  that 
needn't  give  yuh  cold  feet,  dearie,  for  it  won't  be 
any  harder'n  what  yuh're  doin'  at  this  moment. 
All  yuh  gotta  do  is  wear  a  uniform  and  put  me  cut 
flowers  out  in  the  hall  ev'ry  night  and  stand  be- 
tween me  and  the  wide,  wide  world.  I  mean  yuh 
gotta  keep  me  from  hein'  seen.  Ev'ry  gink  in  this 
Indian-sign  hotel's  gotta  think  Vm  h  real  fiitient,, 


332 


JBE  POOR  PF  JDREAD 


For  Gawd  only  knows  when  the  fitst  o'  that  gang 
'11  be  bobbin'  up  here.  And  if  he  smelt  a  rat  the 
whote  bundi 'd  beat  it  for  the  tall  timber.  All  yub 
grotta  do  is  answer  the  door  and  order  meals  am 
ttsi;  the  {dione  for  me.  I've  been  up  talkin'  with  that 
nke  Idnd-eyed  old  Crown  Attorney  o'  yours  and 
makin'  depositions  and  havin'  a  couple  o'  pow-wows 
with  yoor  city  magistrate.  So  to-morrow  yuh'U 
have  to  drop  round  and  get  a  bunch  o'  papers  from 
tlum  for  me  to  sign  up.  That's  to  oil  the  extra- 
dictin'  process  and  have  the  gang  held  here  until 
the  Amurican  authorities  are  ready  to  take  'em 
over." 

Miss  Poole  sat  down  in  a  chair  beside  the  dresser. 
She  was  too  interested  to  be  afraid. 

'^ut  I  don't  see  how  you,  how  any  woman,  can 
actually  arrest  four  or  five  men,  especially  men  of 
the  kind  you  mention." 

Sadie,  as  she  thrust  her  toes  into  her  bedroom 
slippers,  laughed  quietly. 

**Why,  honey  child,  I  don't  have  to  handle  'em. 
There'D  be  four  or  five  cops  from  your  ci  -  rce 
to  do  the  navvy  work.  And  that  strong-ar.  ^uad 
11  be  waitin*  and  ready  in  a  room  in  this  hotel, 
Syatchin'  for  me  to  give  'em  the  signal.   And  il 


THE  DOOR  PF:  DREAQ  333 


there's  any  hitdi  in  thst  Fve  doped  ont  a  titeie 
for  aendin'  a  posb-bell  signal  to  the  house-engineer 
down-stairs,  so's  he  can  shot  off  the  power  and  get 
the  bunch  between  floors  in  the  elevator,  once  they 
try  to  make  a  bieak  lor  tiie  open.  Ytdi  see,  aO  I 
gotta  do  is  make  sure  I  got  my  gang  together.  And 
that  reminds  me:  Yoh're  goin'  to  have  the  room 
directly  above  tiiis  one.  In  a  day  or  two  Fra  gcnn' 
to  be  moved  iq»  to  that  room.  IH  have  to  make  a 
kidc  about  the  noise— «iid  Aere^s  suve  groond  for 
it,  w^  tiiem  Grand  Trunk  engbe-beQs  foin*  an 
night  and  them  street-cars  poondin'  across  the  sta- 
tionnrails  all  dayf 

"But  why  change  rooms?"  adced  die  yoong  nurse. 

"Because  ^  is  the  room  when  that  gang  is 
goin'  to  sit  down  and  have  its  secret  oonfereaoe. 
They're  goin'  to  sit  down  at  ^t  rotmd  table  tiiere, 
rig^  under  ^tat  okl-fasfak»ed  dandier,  aad  fan- 
agine  they're  gettin'  their  money's  worth  because 
they're  &  19  by  tfie  heaviest  brass-wock  east  of 
Keokukr 

Stifi  again  the  younger  woman  seemed  mMt  to 
follow  her  older  companion. 

"B^  hew.  €ui  you  be  sure  they  come  to  l^s 
roomf 


334 


JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


Sadie  pained  in  tiie  act  of  drofipiiig  a  ddrt  over 
her  head. 

"Thej  gotta  come  hete,  dearie,  b'cause  Fm  goin' 
to  have  this  room  rigged  ttp  ipedal  for  'em.  If 
I  can't  work  it  any  other  way,  IH  engage  ev'ry 
other  en^  room  in  iMs  whole  dnmp  and  pay  for 
it  in  advance.  And  thittH  leave  'cm  oidy  tins  one 
to  crawl  into.  Bat  jthat  am't  tiie  m^ortant  point" 
Sadie,  having  hooked  her  ddrt  and  kxked  the  door, 
switdied  on  ^  rest  of  the  lif^  Did  ynfa  ever 
go  to  a  county  fair  and  see  the  mbes  crowdin'  is 
to  what  they  called  a  camtra  obscmar 

1  think  I  haver 

"Of  course  yvk  havel  Wdl,  I'm  canyin*  our 
War  Department's  improvement  on  thi^  an  im» 
provemeut  that  was  first  worked  out  for  our  sub- 
marine periscopes.  Yuh  see  brass  globe  on  the 
bottom  o'  that  oU  daaddier  that  kwks  as  if  it 
come  out  o'  the  Aik?  Well,  Vm  goia'  to  take  off 
that  and  set  my  1^  kns  in  thne.  IfB  blend 
in  with  the  ornamental  work  and  coiddn't  be  spotted 
withamkroscope.  Then  afto- Fve  had  a  hole  cut  in 
the  floor  up  hi  your  room,  I'm  goin'  to  set  up  my  re- 
frsetin'  mirron.  Tbm  9&  I  gotta  do  h  adjust  my 
wUte  leased  £aL  It  may  be  too  smaU  to  diov 


THE  DCXDR  OF  DREAD  335 


ev'ry  one  nttiii'  'round  this  taiUe  it  oooe,  bctfc  by 
revotrin*  Hait  dial  I 

the  room  on  it  But  that  ain't  aH  Yah  lee  tiiat 
nifty  ml  paintm'  o'  seven  biHous  cows  eathi'  zinc 
auarta  off'n  a  hillside  tiuU's  been  overrun  with  what 
looks  like  a  carload  o' German  mustard?  Just  pipe 
that  picture  and  that  five^aefa  plasler-ol-Fiuis  gQt 
frame,  and  tdl  me  if  yuh  see  anything  fecial 
about  it" 

1  He  gtn  in  the  unitonn  stuotea  tne  jHcture  on  tne 
walL 

"AH  I  can  see  is  that  it  seerat  an  espeetalfy  stupid 
bit  of  painting."* 

"The  pahtthi*  may  be  stoopid,  but  the  plasterof- 
Paris  frame  am't,  not  fay  a  k»g  AtiL  For  if  yuh 
stand  oa  that  chair  and  study  them  gi^-cofcred  ty 
perwwxt  yun  it  see  wnerc  one  u  tnem  tnrce-mcn 
scrolls  is  ctrt  away.  Where  tfiat  scroti  oqgteta  be 
18  tne  annunciator  ox  a  qietapnooe  covereii  wmi 
gilt  And  them  ^cture  wires  thai  |po  to  Ae 
mokiin'  there  are  covered  with  siflc  ffl)er.  But  ish 
ittcad  o^  iloppfai'  1^  ^e  nol^^  tib^  (o  r||^ 

4%^  mnM  ^^HIm*  m^Jt  m^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

wiiH  a  tebeiver  sbb  uiyHsen  uMuminw  wueu  i  gR 
up  tiMft.  That  mnsi  I  can  A  up  fat  tint  tooaib 


336        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

like  a  firm' line  liitaicr.  IcaiiaitfatckwWiaiMldi- 
case  receiver  at  my  ear  and  pidc  vip  wist  I  vm/k 
to  pick  up,  f(Mr  if  «^  one  o'  tkat  boneli  doent 
show  up,  I  sure  wast  to  know  wheae  ke't  at" 

"But  still  I  don't  quite  icfr— "  began  ^bt  otktf . 

"Well,  in  show  ynh.  Tohbottow  Tm  foin'  to 
be  a  pnttjr  M  woman.  So  wall  have  an  dactri- 
dan  string  a  private  wire  ov-..  to  Doctor  l^t^lson's 
office.  This  hotd  knows  I've  got  momgr  to  ban^ 
but  they  don't  know  it's  comin'  out  o^  ytmr  Unde 
Sam's  pocket  That  dectrictanll  do  the  woik  the 
way  I  teU  Um  and  hell  carry  the  wh«8 19  thiei^ 
that  floor.  Where  we  stop  'em  after  Hmt  wont 
be  any  p'  hk  or  anyho^  else's  hnsinws.  Then 
we'll  move  up  above  Bid  get  fcadly.  I'ttpowder^ 
till  took  ^  a  hMtipsper  and  yAtL  have  'en 
carry  me  up  on  a  stretdmwfor  wc^ie  gsia'  to  do 
this  thing  right  Then,  as  soon  as  we  saa  ^  hmidi 
is  beginnin'  to  diow  np^  Tm  fob'  to  get  worse. 
I'm  goin'  to  get  so  bad  that  yoht  have  to  scad  a 
wire  to  Noo  YcwIl  Thafs  ne  home  town.  Yoh'S 
i^fgncph  for  a  qwrialitt  to  beat  it  hete  as  qdck 
as  a  train  can  bring  hhn.  YWU  have  to  wife  to 
Beetor  Wilsnach  to  omm  at  onee.  And  jtk  rasf 

^^^^^^^        -  ■  <       •  ^^^pvwqpip  aPWWwM^Htt 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAR  337j 


oAatc  woppcci  ^caiKiTy  ana  Rifea  wmi^^ib  >» 
tfie  wiA  opposite  her.  "And  alUir^i;**  tfie/ve  bodi 
pretty  clever  specialists  in  their  \  they're  gdn' 
to  arrhc  just  a  UtAt  too  kte  fnr  tJiis  opeiBtioo.. 
Fmt  &e  case  is  sote  (oin'  to  be  worad  b'lont 
then  bi^  (MM  get  their  Idt  Uud  oirtf 

'3at  won't  there  be  danfor?  Woo^^" 

Again  Sadie  ct^  Uie  other  diort 

"For  ynhr  she  drmanded.  "Or  lor  nte?* 

The  Canaditti  girl  bhished. 

I'm  afraM  I  was  tiihddng  more  abook  nysdl." 
die  had  ^  honesty  to  admowiedfe. 

"And  ytdi're  gettsn'  cold  Icet?" 

"It's  not  so  nmdi  a  aatler  of  cM  lee^  m  yoQ 
can  it  But  it's  aB  s»— so  new  to  me.  And  I 
ra^er  wUh  you-— you  hacfai^  tsiwB  me  hilo  yomt 
oQofidmee  la  thb  wnr." 

leinpiainre  wsa  noc  nBizMDoi^  ^ea  me  weo  juuug 
&ce  (^po^te  her* 

Xio,  aeanef  mere  wont  oe  asymiiig  new  aoouc 
it  Aflynh'regotfaidoMbewhatyBhaw^atTimwt 
mtfie  ami  a  ntee  aean4rnn  gin.  it  iMte  was  any 
tning  8  m  s  i  wosKm™  tfy  to  ft 
dccot  skirt  into  h,  lU's  seovt  fiQi^  ind  ^a  gotii 


3aS        THE  TOOR  OF  DREAD 

•taj  lecret,  and  the  lord-mayor  o'  Lnonll  never 
even  know  yuh'vc  been  gay-cattin'  for  a  gwndioe 
expert.  And  if  yuh're  a  quitter  Fve  rare  nadt 
the  mistake  of  my  lifeT 

Still  again  the  younger  wonna  fafanliod  a  little. 

"I  don't  thinic  I'm  what  yon  cafl  a  quitter.  But 
there's  your  own  tide  of  tlie  caie.  In't  a  iMag 
like  this  dangerous  for  yoar* 

"HuUy  gee,  child,  I  gotta  eat  danfer  in  a  caSin' 
like  minel  That's  my  jofa^  tddli'  dttnees.  And 
the  only  thmg  thafs  wonyior  i*  wMier  yuli'rt 
goin'  to  stick  it  oot  or  not" 

'T  think  yon  cui  oooBt  08  nt,"  tiie  CuMto  ^ 
very  quietly  announced. 

A  sigh  of  relief  esci^  SaiSe. 

"Then  s'porai'  we  get  down  to  cmcs,"  ike  said, 
as  she  seated  heisdf  with  a  tdsphooe  directory  on 
her  top.  Tor  I  sore  don't  want  any  loopkoles  in 
thow  exlfadicttoa  jfocudlii'i  r* 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN 


MISS  MABEL  POOLE  both  by  tnining  and 
tempenment  was  not  ghen  to  exchabUity. 
But  two  dayi  teter,  as  Sadie  Wmipd  sat  in  her 
upper  room  Hke  a  lender  at  the  oenter  of  its  web» 
the  young  trained  nurse  began  to  grow  into  a  rcali- 
satton  of  the  dramatic  vahKS  of  the  ntnation  about 
her.  She  eonld  not  tpitu  undefsland  the  game,  but 
sne  was  opoiqf  imcrssieo  m  ns  movemcnn.  abii 
they  were  mofemeirts  all  new  to  her  eyes.  She 

object  so  Q»  a  gunmetid  watdi  widi  a  couple  of 
ihoe-strings  dangling  from  it,  her  alert-mhided  oom- 
pawKw  was  ane  to  ovemear  ai^  won*  yoaen  m 
the  room  bdow  them.  And  the  adventure  was  al- 
ready under  way. 

She  had  been  hifected  with  an  cdio  of  Sadie's 
*i(if  i#^wi— 1^  as  Qie  let  If  f  ItcteniiK  iBAeBuV  wi#fi  tfis 

nricrophooe  at  her  ear»  suddenly  kaned  forward, 
turned  a  swftdi  and  began  dowly  revolving  th 
polidied  white  dial  which  stood  on  the  small  table 
at  the  center  of  the  room.  She  had  caufl^t  the 

339 


340        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

other  wonnn't  laint  gasp  of  satis£ictioii  u  tw 
diminislied  figures,  dear  in  outline  for  all  the  prii 
matic  tinu  which  haloed  their  images,  crossed  th 
face  of  the  dial. 

"That's  Andefanan  V  said  Sadie  under  her  breatfe 
Then  she  added :  ''Andefanan  and  a  belMwy.  He' 
puttin'  the  hand-bag  at  the  foot  o' the  bed  and  opcnin 
the  window.  And  thafs  Andefanan  taldn'  the  ke: 
from  the  outside  o'  the  door  and  puttin'  it  on  tb 
mnde.  Which  is  the  fit  and  proper  thhig  for  anj 
crook  to  da  The  b(^  is  addn' hhn  if  he  wants  iea 
water.  ...  So  he  wants  a  highball,  does  he 
to  steady  his  nerves  a  bit  I  Whidi  same  isn't  to  hi 
wondered  at.  Mister  Anddmanf* 

Sadie,  leaning  intently  forward,  continued  to  tun 
the  dial  slowly  ab(»it 

He's  giiren  the  boy  a  quarte^-whidi  ou|^ 
be  quite  a  handsome  tip  for  the  Tecumadit  And 
thaf  a  a  cigarette  he's  ligfatin'."  The  dial  becami 
en^ty  of  aS  movement  "And  now  he's  out  o' 
readk" 

Sadies  with  tiie  watch-case  leoeiver  still  at  hei 
ear,  turned  suddenly  to  the  other  womaa 

'"IhSeA^  I  W8i^  yt&  to.  scoot  down  to  ^  office 
and  adE  il  thete'i  aq^  mail  for  se.  And  yAm 


THE  POOR  PP:  PR£Al> 


341 


yuh're  at  the  desk  I  want  yuh  to  look  at  the  register 
and  find  out  what  name  that  man  put  down  there, 
and  where  he  pretends  to  come  from.  And  lock 
that  door  when  yuh  go  out  and  take  the  key  with 
yuh." 

The  young  nurse  started  on  her  errand  without 
tomment,  for  during  the  last  forty-eight  hours  she 
had  learned  not  to  be  too  inquisitive  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  things.  There  liad  been  too  many  move- 
ments to  puzzle  her,  even  to  being  sent  to  Cowan's 
hardware  store  for  a  Colt  automatic  and  to  the 
house  engineer  in  the  basement  with  a  jten-dollar 
bill  sealed  up  in  an  envelope. 

When  she  returned  to  the  room  with  the  informa- 
tion that  the  newcomer  had  signed  himself  as 
"Adolph  Weininger,"  of  Milwaukee,  she  found 
Sadie  once  more  leaning  intently  over  the  glazed 
dial 

•That's  Heinold  who's  just  come  in,"  was  the 
staring  woman's  whispered  comment.  Then  she  no 
longer  watched  the  dial,  but  sat  with  inclined  head, 
all  her  attention  directed  toward  the  microphone 
at  her  ear.  "Hully  gee,  they're  talkin'  Magyar  I" 
she  muttered,  and  there  was  disappointment  in  her 
yoice. 


342        THE  DOOR  OF,  DREAD. 


zee  M  ■Qe  hk  Tneiif  8i  •  mcc  oi  v^ecmK  cmicOt 
•M  fcininow  OM  yoinifBr  wobub  of  a  mum  cm 
Mfttcd  cloM  ofcr  ft  inoiiM4iol<t  Bat  ttfl  tiN  witdi 

fffffffij  VVVm  mUMpQ  XOs  PVvv*  MIQ  SQiCi*  SUB  y^pm 

■pnw&ic  tad  an  btt  Utai^  Kript  Tlmihtd^ 

•■t^tArft  ti^M-  ■iiaaiit nai  I^^^^^^m  a^.^  ^tl^t  ■  J^^m. 

wsQEU  DEm    ^u^^S^u^Mm  K^^k^B^^^B  Q^^H  ^^HB  KH^SBfli 

V m^w^s  a^w*   wot^mwwmv  ■pww^^vim  mh^v  vMvm  vbsotb  w^vf  ^smpw*^ 

phoM  receiver.  But  itiB  As  witdb  cofltiBBstf*  As 
boor  pueed  away. 
The  gkl  in  tiie  wilom,  tind  of  Hfiiiidtd  ae> 

vp  tiM  book  and  twaed  ta  aindliwoifc  witm  Sa^ 
loofcfd  up  ift^  aihad  Ae  tiaM> 

laeju  COOK  m  on  mm  wyai  mn^  noii  onv 
giaka*"  die  finally  ■■artid.  "Ym,  on  tlK  a^ 
train-41i  bet  my  hatr  Aad  eowdlid  her 
dme^abie  to  make  mm  of  Ike  boor  of  ita  arrifil. 
And  after  agibi  tumimi  to  bip  hutniBwati  At  as* 
notmeed  wiib  a  tl^  tiHtf  tbt  fooai  ptt  oact  sKwa 

So  ttcy  tock  advtnttgi  <rf  tiw  hfl  ta  til  tkik^ 
axtl  tofether.  Tbea  tkt  tiqra  me  ctivitd  amgr 
Mu  iM  CM  oaov  mora  ctoocbm  omt  immommkm* 

*  A  ^  ^ILa  A&M^ft  9f\m  ^^^b  ^^^^^^  ^^^ft^  j^J^  f^H^^^A  ^^^^^^ 

/!•  isB  ppp  joc     aii^i  mai  mai  nt  jHEtK  stM; 


THE  DOOR  OF  L^EAD  343 


n3i%  I  wMifc  I  eoohl  fol  oolte  M  iMit  lor  ImII 
te  ImnhtI  Fd  MM  dp  MOW  tkttHUkf  tottsA  Mi 
iown  tial'd  mitt  tikow  wept  wtSk  l^hMT 

thm  MfAfav  I  an  do  lor  yovr  aiM  fl» 
yoom  iMftt.  Sbt  WM  too  ffwrtcw  to  rndL  tlM 
1^  M  toe  tfd*  wMi  a  MM  of  IdddM  dmw  to 
uiaK  M  sKwe  BMOitiromi  swt  MB  Bw  flyno  Mr 
and  tfm^  io  ddogi  HmH  hti  MMind  ber  frit  1% 


'Tdi  aa  lim  «p  Hit  ddef.*  wat  Sodi^t 
reiponM^        BS  Mm  to  iMld  Ut  Mfli  for  twt 

canr' 

'Wuif  .:iauTaAtdtte^ 
ThtoWofpoiita  Hm^  1^ mndMT wHitM 
on  tilt  win  f  if  IT  am  to  lia      e«  Htl 


Hm  vbw>  8hi  iowt 


Sidie*s 
plioat^  lor  the 
had  coot  tip  to  htf 
sne  rcvoifw  atr 
•ad  AadAnoB  had  lUuimd  to  tfwir  wm  But 

wMttfc  mu  usu  BCT  WW  MB  MB  BHK  SB^fiitt  WOOffK 

atfMflM 


344        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


She  leaned  dowr  over  the  dial,  ttarfaig  intently 
at  the  forediorteiied  haage  of  thia  nan  aa  he  took 
off  his  hat  and  his  forehead  She  notked 
the  low  receding  Une  of  that  forehead  aa  it  fan  back 
into  the  delta  of  the  bald  head,  the  square  and  bony 
jaw,  the  wide  sbpe  of  tiie  loose-haQg  shoulders. 
And  her  study  of  that  simian  figure  did  not  leave 
her  long  in  doubt  She  knew  it  was  Canby,  the 
same  Cai%  who  had  acted  as  Mtnaa's  botkr  ki 
New  York  at  Ike  time  of  the  coart-gun  ^fts. 

'nihat's  three  of  them  r  die  said  under  her  bftath. 

Then  she  k>oked  and  listened  again,  for  the  three 
men  had  ranged  themselves  about  tiie  table  (Hrectfy 
under  her  kns*  wad  Anddman  had  produced  a  pack 
of  cards  and  a  pocket  case  of  c^ps.  Thij  were 
about  to  mask  tkekr  conferenee,  she  saw,  by  pre- 
tending that  k  waa  a  himify  game  of  poker. 

HeinoM  was  indolently  eountiog  out  Ike  ^^a 
Tvken  a  knock  sounded  on  the  door.  ItwuAndd- 
man,  Sadie  saw,  who  rose  to  answer  that  knock. 

She  waited,  brsathkis,  imtH  she  saw  Anddman'a 
figure  ag^a  move  across  the  dial  Then  dose  be- 
hind thk  figure  moved  anotho*,  a  shorter  and 
■touter  igur^  a  figwi  Aat  waBnd  w^  a  bkd-l3Ga 
iwdjfle,  tooteig  fai  diminuendo  man  than  mm 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  345 


a  Uitbe  and  rul»cu»i  dd  rdbin.  She  could  see  the 
checkered  nik  handkcrdiief  at  he  blew  hit  note  and 
the  keen  cncktnfw  of  his  eye  ai  he  tofied  h»  Mtk^ 
n^ced  body  slowly  about  «id  made  a  iilent  yet  care- 
ful in^Mctkm  of  the  room.  Thea  he  sat  down. 

**Thafs  Wallaby  Sam!  And  that  ihakes  four  o' 
thcnf  nid  the  woman  watching  tin  4WI|  lotto 
voce. 

"Shoidd  there  be  more  Uian  fonrr  adced  Miia 
Pode. 

'nrhere  dioiski  be  five  o^  themf' 

Then  who  is  tiie  odierr 

It's  KeodeS,"      wMspeied  bade 

Do  yoo— do  yoo  hvm  to  wait  for  lamT* 

Sadie  snorted* 

He's  tlK  Ug  wafoar 

"I  doi^t  quite  mderstaod." 

"In  plain  Unked  States^  Im^s  snfo  s^pwet^ 
the  whde  posh!  Andht'stheooelfottafetr 

The  sstnation  sttH  seemed  to  perplex  Mist  Mabel 
Poole. 

lain  wajy  oont  yon  oavt  «•  oneurs  wup  m 
and  artaal  ^ese  four  mo^  and  |il  ^e  twissiw|f  om 
when  he  eeiMa?" 
For     iieead  thne  Sa^  envied  a  hoot 


i 


'C 

~^ '  ii 

m 


346        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


And  throw  «  ican  koto  M  Ug  cum  tiiaf  4 
keep  htm  roOia'  till  tht  hesTenlj  cows  OHt  homtl 
Noton  jourfilcdttricl  That'i  not  wty  to— " 
She  MKideiilj  faraht  off  mid  m  wfth  iadiiwd  Iwid, 
listenhig  to  tiM  foindt  Ihit  tridded  hilo  tier  Mr  ovtr 
the  wire. 

'Thikf  1  Aaddmia  tefcfiioidtf,  and  idiaf t 
nine  old  poMword  they  med  on  Dorgin  in  tfw 
gtn-nap  dai^-polkadot  And  no  gink  who  ain't 
a  oouBter-jim^cf  eayt  poikadot  into  a  phone  tnwa- 
B^ter  lor  aothhi\  do  they,  Mabel?  FnMB  whidi 
even  a  pfadMnd  l&e  me  can  argue  that  heTa  taidn' 
to  one  o' (he  hoidL  And  ^  oo^a  fotte  he  Kf»> 
d^  And  tiiat  nawa  oar  friorf  Kcodrfi  M% 
more'n  a  tbooaaad  niM  MMf  Ipmi  Mb  hM,  m 
way  rate.** 

 ^^gr^^^      ••••  wm^^MH^^MH^  ■■HHpiipw^  ^^HtJ^ 

fag  op  htr  dtaip>€iit  Spa  ai  llv  ilhMlias* 

Then  ihc  ttuMtthi  mat  to  Imp  ImI. 

'1  fiMM,  If^  yiH  can  neiif  if  ifet  iMMt 
to  thai  laiepri^  oAct  and  wilt  ioflliil  M  ^ 
diMto.  For  4^  loofc  ii  iMI#  I  m  pli^  tf 
ha  uim  lii  hilaii  to  ■wriwr.  I  mff  wMtt 
J^fi^fe^r  ^K^tifsa^i  to*  flar  tiha  fl^  ^(MB  hj^afli 
^  loiia  Ua  aliMl,  ^  iiii  jfiii  f(p 


THE  DOOR  O^  DREAD 


347, 


sign  il  XHmrf"^  Me  tiwi  it  foet  litnii^  to 
uK  Bmi  pcwwiinr  vw 

Tbt  jooBf  tn^nd  mum  ifipytd  k^to  li  nfanoit 
tfiA  ft  wtfwtHt  tad  tqr  oo  flMMit  mfogBHil 
MUM  of  ncitmcBt  Innricd  4mri  lbt<Mi||i  the  lwld 

When  ilw  iilMiiiiL  ftmf^  mimm  hier,  A» 
fouai  htr  patiMt  itg  iMM%  iliifi  f  tedM 
of  lbs  cflMiMi  ofticmv  Ir  ' 

f^^^^K  ^^^^^   V^^uifb   ^^A^^^^^^  MA 

^•^^^R^P  ^^^^^  ^^^B^^^^^^ww 

iMt  AfMHI  twim  MKlBd  idbMt        WM  CfCB ' 

C^^^^^^^— ^  ^^^^^^ 

csaqor*  The  elfrfft  of  nmgr  * 
ilM  Ihi^  ki        tfaed  her  eat  MbMif 
mtfida^  Ae  adMMMfidt  coolt 


lenM  l»  #i  — ihig  fiilMi  ihe  hoi 


« 


348 


THE  DOOR  OF.  PREAQ 


the  more  patient-eyed  woman  sj'  ting  alert  and  in- 
tent before  a  glazed  white  dial,  with  a  dictaphone 
receiver  clamped  over  her  ear.  She  reminded  the 
heavy-eyed  girl  of  a  crystal-gazer  sitting  above  her 
globe,  with  her  thoughts  on  the  incomprehensible. 
Then,  as  her  brain  grew  drowsier,  it  made  her  think 
of  the  huddled  figure  in  one  comer  of  Michelan- 
gelo's Last  Judgment — a  figure  that  was  both  tragic 
and  brooding  and  had  haunted  her  mind  from  an 
art  print  in  her  childhood  home. 

Then  the  watcher,  with  her  utter  absence  of 
movement,  seemed  to  become  something  grotesque, 
merging  into  a  gargoyle  on  a  lonely  to  'er,  crouch- 
ing silent  and  cynic,  over  a  world  wrapped  in  dark- 
ness. Then  the  attenuated  chain  of  thought  melted 
into  sleep  itself,  and  the  picture  became  a  blank. 

The  girl  was  wakened  from  that  sleep  by  a  shake 
from  Sadie  Wimpel's  hand.  She  sat  up  at  once,  for 
she  was  used  to  sudden  calb. 

"What  is  it?"  she  asked. 

"Where'd  yuh  go  to  send  that  telegram?"  de- 
manded the  other  woman.  It  was  plain  to  see  that 
scmiething  had  haj^tened  to  disturb  her. 

"Why?" 


THE  DCX)R  OF  DREAD;  349 


"Btcmm  Yyt  jtist  picked    a  point  er  i«o  ffom 
tint  btmcli  mdeniaith  us.** 
1  went  to  the  tdegrq^  office  a  couple  of  falod» 


Thafs  tiK 


up  Richmond  Strec 
hotd  is  on*" 

Did  any  one  tail  yoli  when  yvBH  went  ito  ^ 
office?** 

'Tail  me?** 

Te8»  ihadow  yidi?  Follow  yuh  there?** 
The  giri  on  the  bed  tat  thinldnf  it  om. 
'Vo,  nobody  loOowed  me.  I'm  foite  mm  of 
that** 

"Bttt  did  Tiih.ice  anybody?  Or  p^  any^aif 
sttspicioiii  ?** 

''No,  nothing  in  any  way  wepidow.'* 

"And  yidi*re  dead  lore  nobody  followed  yiih  to 
that  office?**  pemeled  tiie  other* 

"Not  a  io^  The  oi^  perton  I  tiw,  c.-tiidi  of 
tihe  operator,  waa  wi  old  men  i^aad^  dwe.  Ha 
wai 

pccting  a  wke  from  hit  wil^  oo  her  wi^  badi  Iran 
M omit  Oeme^^  He  expliined  ^Mt  ha  ^di^  Ibhw 
wiucti  train  to  meec 
"What  ^Kd^itcMnHHi  lode  ttbt?  T^ini^dMtfii^ 


r' 


il 


350 


THE  DOOR  QF.  DREAD 


think,  for  I  sure've  got  to  get  this  thing  ttnii^ 
What  was  he  like?" 

"He  was  a  big  man  and  he  wore  big  glasses  with 
blue  lenses.  And  he  was  rather  old,  I  should  say." 

"And  there  was  nothin'  else  yuh  noticed  about 
himr 

The  girl  was  silent  for  a  moment  or  two. 

"I  remember  one  thing,  now.  There  were  a  num- 
ber of  crisscross  marks  on  his  cheek.  I  remember 
wondering  what  could  have  caused  them." 

Sadie  Wimpel  heaved  a  sigh.  The  girl  could 
not  tell  whether  it  was  one  of  relief  or  of  resig- 
nation. 

"Was  he  fair  or  dark?" 

"He  was  fair,  I  think.  Yes,  he  must  hkwt  been 
fair,  for  I  noticed  that  his  eyetHX>ws  were  a  yellow- 
ish gray." 

Sadie  sat  down  on  the  side  of  the  bed. 

"That  man  was  Keudelir  she  quietly  announced. 
But  the  Arctic  feet  of  uiKounted  mice,  for  all  the 
dder  woman's  quietness,  ran  up  and  down  the 
young  nurse's  spine. 

"But  that  man  didn't  even  look  at  mt^  protested 
tfie  girl.  "He  didn't  know  why  I  went  tlmt,  or 
iwrfaat  I  tHTought." 


:e:he  door  of,  dreaq 


351; 


352 


.THE  DOOR  OF.  DREAP 


rm  in  thb  holeL  Thafi  oertda,  or  tfaejr  woaUnlt 
•tUl  be  ftnoldn'  down  there  in  that  room.  AndKen- 
IdeS  himseif  doem't  loiow  it  ytt,  or  he'd  htvt  tipped 
'em  off  tad  had  'cm  dock  lor  ^  open." 

She  sat  deep  in  thought  for  a  moment  or  two. 
The  yotmfer  woman,  who  had  dipped  ont  of  bed, 
begin  to  dren. 

**BiA  l3m  man  yon  call  Keoddl  woukfai't  come 
heie,  to  thia  room,  would  htT* 

"Ketiddl'd  do  aiQrtMnf  .  And  I  gnesi  well  know 
hit  fimit  befoai  tfv  n^  is  over."  She  rose  to 
her  feet  and  hiviiid  aeross  the  room  to  makt  sttre 
that  the  door  was  locked.  Then,  after  htrther  safe- 
guarding this  door  by  sUdfaig  to  the  heavy  brass  bdt 
acrewed  against  it,  she  stood,  with  nanhiathre  tytB, 
regarding  tiie  room. 

19  ICnock  softly*  sign  still  haagin'  on  the 
oot^  o*  ^  door?" 

Tcs,"  answtied  the  girl,  as  she  Utrnst  her  wfate 
aran     trough  a  petticoat. 

'^dl,  go  to  the  pixme,  please^  and  send  a  nea> 
sage  down  to  the  office.  I  tee  Fm  gohi' to  be  pretty 
k>w  to-nlgl^  and  I  waitt  yah  to  warn  'em  that  your 
p^ient's  not  to  be  disturbed,  not  to  be  dktoM  on 
•B/  ■ocounc 


iTHE  PCX)R  OF,  DREAQ 


353 


ledtd  aad  MliwrilitHv,  ••  llw  operator  WM 
and  the  tMtnft  was  dflfy  ddhrtrtd. 

ioppoeiiig  tluit  nan  ilioald  eoow  hmr  in- 
qtsiffdtiiepfackkaMadedlliii  Poole.  The  newer, 
convkxioii  of  mogt  wm  plafai^  disturhiiic  her. 
She  had  n8Aed  eiiriteiiwnli  bet  there  were  timee 
:iHien  cxdleneBt  eoidd  eone  too  dooe  for  oomlort, 
•*0h,  I  foeie  worae  thtega  codd  h^ipen,"  Tm» 
SM»  caenal  retort,  as  the  croesed  the  room  and 
oaee  more  took  «p  her  ^eti^hociereeehrer.  '^That'd 
at  haat  fat  ne  hep  to  iHm  he  was,"  ahe  contiiKied, 
as  she  ifpied  inetrmnettt  to  her  ear.  "And 
knowU"  where  KcadeQ  is  oui^  he  me  fifit  aha 

hi  fifef* 

She  9Med  snddeafy  about,  and  heni  over  hec 

rrhe/re  §M  oat  afahi,  tiw  hmOi  ^ 
tumr 

She  sit  Irawahv  ORFcr  ^  enptjr  !i4dto  sorfMe, 
The     Md  patienajr  watcUaf  her. 

«M  iMi  can  die  flMn  70a  ci^  Keod^  kacnc 
joofre  hi  M  rooni,  or  «vcb  hi  this  hoUir  fha 
fsBtSSnf  dsBHBded. 

Sadie^  ailtf  noddhi|^  tUMiwttsptfi^  Ofar  hsr  4id 


354 


THE  DOOR  OF,  PREAQ 


and  pattiag  6emn  Iwr  rectivtr,  itt  pcnteim  tUt 

quest  'on. 

"Don't  yah  t'poM  Kmidell  «w  yoli  bnt  it  IimIi 

here?" 

"I  don't  think  he  could  have.  In  the  fint  phce, 
yoo  yourself  said  he  had  to  wait  to  overhear  our 
nemge.  And  hi  the  second  place,  there  was  a 
crowd  at  the  comer  of  Yorke  Street  when  I  came 
back,  a  crowd  right  north  of  the  hotel  here,  for  a 
policeman  had  stopped  a  man  for  speeding." 

"How'd  that  ever  hide  uh  from  Keudell?  That 

guy  could  tail  yuh  a  thouMod  niika  and  yidi'd  nmr 

know  it" 

"But  I  had  to  push  throu|^  thia  crowd,  right  faito 
it,  and  at  first  I  couldn't  get  awqr  again.  And  I 
would  surely  have  noticed  a  hufe  man  like  Keudell 
if  be  had  been  anywhere  about.  The  crowd  had 
closed  in  so  thick  that  I  edged  toward  the  policeman, 
for  I  intended  to  tell  him  I  was  a  trained  nurse  and 
aak  him  to  help  me  throui^  a*  I  waa  m  a  hnny.** 

"/UKldidhe?" 

"He  was  too  busy  talking  with  the  nan  he  had 
stopped  to  notice  me.  I  heard  aome  one  say  that 
his  car  had  made  the  eighteen  mikt  Iram  St 
Thomaa  m  a  little  under  Pma/tf-mimk  niinatei»  and 


THE  DOOK  pp.  PREAQ  355 

didn't «««Bdo«r«p at tiMcHgrteili.  TiMiIlMMd 
worn  out  ^      tliqr  Iw      ft  dottar. 

Ttel  iaMmtd  and  I  mMI  ft  wtiSt  to  IM  ^ 
woddlMVpaiL  Bol tfM flMHUvanrt ft doelor, ftlter 
an,  fori  WW  hfan  takt  a  paper  oat  of  hto  pocktt 
■od  dw«r  it  to  tlM  pottoMMB  and  fift  UN  edge 
of  Ilia  coat  wiMC  ha  ted  ft  litda  liim  dMd  piaaad." 

"A  wtetr*  inappad  Sa«a  Winipd,  awiaginf 
ahatplx  aboot 

•*A  fittk  MM  made  of  liKfr,  a  good  deal  Wm 
mmm  of  onr  cia»  jim,  ot&f  not  lo  taaai.'' 

"Aad  wtet  did     cop  do  tiKB  r 

*leaw  kirn  point  badttowafdte  American  Coo- 

ndaia  oOoe  on  Yoriea  Street  Tten  te  poAed  tfie 
cfowd  hade  and  let  ^  nan  into  the  eidc  en- 
traaea  of  ^  teld.  I  knew  thrt  was  ngr  d«Me, 
eo  I  foOowad  deaa  after  tek" 

''Wtet  did  Oi^  man  kMk  Vktr 

Tte  gill  waa  aSeat  lor  a  oneMBt  or  two^  ap- 
paiaa^  atwq^  to  liiMaMia  ter  nmnwy  ei  Ite 
etraagar'a  fan. 

**Mit  ted  a  inoto^cap  pnBad  dom  ovar  Ida  fora* 
tead  and  te  wore  a  pi^  of  dioae  big  mkft  fog^ 
eo  I  conlda't  aee  nmdi  of  Ida  fMa.  Bnttevaaa 
nioe-looktog  niaa»  and  ratter  praliMiQHMaaMiib 


MClOCOfY  RBOUITION  TBT  CHAIT 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


^   /APPLIED  \MA3E  Inc 


356 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD 


I  should  say.  I  don't  think  he  could  have  been  more 
than  thirty-five.'* 

Sadie  was  on  her  feet  by  this  time.  The  younger 
girl  seemed  quite  unable  to  comprehend  the  source 
of  her  excitement. 

"But,  hully  gee,  what  was  he  likef.  Fat  or  thin? 
Tall  or  short?  Fair  or  dark?" 

Again  the  girl  patiently  tried  to  retrace  the  un- 
certain footprints  of  memory. 

"I  think  he  was  a  little  above  medium  height 
And  he  was  rather  thin." 

"And  a  little  gray  over  the  ears?" 
"Yes,  his  hair  was  dark,  but  gray  about  the  tem- 
ples. I  remember  that.  And  I  remember  his  jaw- 
line,  now  that  I  come  to  think  of  it.  It  was  hard 
and  clean-cut,  and  from  the  casual  manner  in  which 
he  viewed  the  crowd  and  from  the  way  he  talked  to 
the  officer  I  thought  he  must  be  a  man  of  aflfairs, 
a  man  who  was  in  some  way  used  to  power." 

"And  yet  he  came  from  St  Thomas  I  JVhat  and 
Where's  St.  Thomas?" 

"That's  a  city  nearly  twenty  miles  south  of  here. 
It's—oh,  I  remember  now,  he  explained  to  the  offi- 
cer that  he  wasn't  the  owner  of  the  car,  but  had 
wired  to  have  it  waiting  for  him/' 


JHE  DOOR  of:  dread.  357 


**Wiwd  from  wherer 

*Trom  aboard  a  }itw,  York  Central  train." 

"But  what  train?" 

"It  must  have  been  ^  Wolverine--that's  the  flier 
that  cuts  throui^  western  Ontario  between  Niagara 
Falls  and  the  tunnel  at  the  Detroit  River." 

'Trom  Noo  Yawk?"  suddenly  demanded  Sadie. 

**Ye8,"  yna  the  girl's  answer. 

"And  he  came  into  this  hotel?" 

"Yes;  but  I  don't  tiiink  he  took  a  room,  for  I 
feel  sure  he  didn't  register.  Instead  of  stopping  at 
the  desk,  he  said  a  word  or  two  to  the  clerk,  who 
came  out  and  hurried  with  him  to  the  elevator. 
Then  tfaqr  were  both  whidced  off  t^-stairs." 

"To  whidi  floor?" 

"I  don't  kiK>w,  because  I  came  up  by  the  stairs." 

"What'd  yuh  do  that  for,  at  a  time  like  this?" 

The  yoni^^  girl  stared  at  her  dder  conqpanion. 
The  strain,  she  saw,  jm  beginning  to  teU  (m  her 
patienf •  nerm. 

"Because  yestettlay  you  said  that  would  always 
be  the  safest  Vay." 

"Ami  yuh  saw  ndbody  in  the  halls,  after  that, 
or  around  any  o' the  doMTs?  Yuh  didn't  any- 


358        THE  DOOR  DREAD 

"Not  a  thing.  I  remembered  what  you  had  al- 
ready told  me  about  keeping  my  eyes  open.  And 
if  there  had  been  a  sign  of  anything  out  of  the 
ordinary  I  should  have  remembered  it." 

"Any  thing  out  o*  the  ordinary !"  gasped  Sadie. 
She  smiled  a  little  as  she  stared  into  the  young 
nurse's  wondering  face.  Then  she  looked  at  the 
disordered  bed.  "And  there  jruh  were,  sleepin'  like 
a  babe,  with  all  this  stowed  away  in  your  innocent 
young  nut !" 

"All  what?"  asked  the  amazed  girl. 

"Why,  child,  don't  yuh  realize  what  this  means? 
That  man  who  came  into  this  hotel  is  the  man  we 
wired  for.last  night  That  man  vtas  WUsnach  him- 
self!'* 

"But  he  couldn't  have  got  our  message,  if — " 

"Of  course  he  couldn't.  But  bein'  in  the  Secret 
Service  himself,  and  workin'  on  this  case,  he  must've 
bumped  into  a  tip  on  his  own  hook.  Then,  natu- 
rally, he  just  made  a  runnin'  broad  jump  for  where 
he  knew  this  gang  was  holdin'  out  !** 

The  young  woman  looked  relieved. 

"Then  he  can  step  in  and  take  this  case  off  your 
hands?  He  can  get  you  away  from  all  this  dan- 
ger?* 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


359 


Sadie  laughed. 

"I  gotta  keep  him  away  hom  all  this  danger! 
I  gotta  put  him  wise  to  the  ropes  that've  been  laid 
around  here.  For  I  sure  6oa'i  ynoA  that  man  takin' 
risks,  if  I  can  help  it  I** 

"But  why  should  you  worry  about  him?"  adced 
the  nurse,  as  she  adjusted  her  cap  on  mahogany 
brown  hair  which  Sadie  r^;arded  as  altogether  too 
primly  coiffured. 

"Because  there  ain't  another  man  like  him  in  all 
the  world,"  was  Sadie's  quite  unexpected  answer. 
Her  capacity  for  surprising  her  younger  oon^an- 
ion  seemed  without  limit. 

"Then  you  know  him?" 

"In  a  kind  of  a  way,"  was  Sadie's  ironic  retort. 
Then  she  once  more  became  studious.  "But  the 
stunt  we  gotta  face  is  how  to  get  in  touch  with  him. 
It's  ten  to  one  he's  told  that  night  clerk  to  keep  his 
trap  shut.  But  the  first  thing  we  can  do  is  see  if 
he'll  talk  or  not!" 

"What  shall  I  ask  him?"  inquired  the  girl  as  she 
crossed  to  the  telephone  in  answer  to  the  older  wo- 
man's gesture. 

"Ask  him  for  the  room  number  o'  that  specialist 
who  just  blew  in  from  Noo  Yawk  to-iii|^  the 


360        THE  DOOR  OF;  DREADj 


one  he  took  up-stairs  without  waitin*  to  register — • 
and  give  him  to  understand  that  man's  business  is 

also  yo  rs !" 

Sadie,  who  from  time  to  time  had  been  applying 
the  dictaphone  receiver  to  her  ear,  suddenly  turned 
about  and  bent  over  the  dial  again. 

"The  bunch  is  back  1"  she  announced  with  olm- 
ous  relief. 

But  the  girl  at  the  telephone  did  not  hear  her, 
for  her  attention  was  centered  on  the  words  com- 
ing to  her  over  the  wire.  She  suddenly  turned  about 
to  her  companion. 

"He's  in  the  office  now.  They  caught  him  on  his 
way  down-stairs,  and  the  night  clerk  wants  to  know 
if  he'll  put  him  on  the  wire." 

Sadie  started  toward  the  telephone.  Then  she 
hesi*  ted. 

"No,"  she  concluded.  "Ask  that  clerk  to  send 
him  up  to  this  room  as  soon  as  he  can  come.** 

Sadie,  as  this  message  was  being  delivered, 
crossed  to  her  dresser  mirror,  viewed  the  face  in 
it  with  open  disapproval  and  promptly  proc<.  ided 
to  rearrange  her  hair.  Then  she  with  equal  prompt- 
ness powdered  her  nose,  rubbed  a  moistened  finger- 
end  along  her  eyebrows,  and  again  studied  herself 
in  the  glass. 


THE  DOOK  of:  DREAD 


361 


"I  gotta  face  like  a  Dutch  cheese!"  she  an- 
nounced. The  confinement  and  anxieties  of  the  last 
few  days  had  left  it  tired  and  colorless.  So  she 
discreetly  switched  out  all  the  lights  except  the  small 
bulb  beside  the  dresser.  But  even  that  did  not  quite 
satisfy  her.  She  was  fumbling  through  her  dresser 
drawer  for  a  rouge-tube  yrhen  a  knock  sounded  on 
the  door. 

Even  the  younger  girl,  as  Sadie  motioned  for 
her  to  answer  that  knock,  was  not  unconscious  of 
the  momentary  exaltation  ^nrhich  shone  in  her  com- 
pomon's  tired  eyes. 

Sadie  sank  into  a  chair  at  the  end  of  the  shad- 
owy room.  It  astonished  her  that  the  mere  thought 
of  seeing  Wilsnach  again  could  so  upset  her.  As 
she  watched  the  door  and  told  herself  that  with  its 
opening  all  her  world  would  surely  change,  she  was 
conscious  not  only  of  quickened  pulses  and  equally 
quickened  breathing,  but  also  of  a  vague  yet  vast 
weight  being  lifted  away  from  her  spirit.  There- 
after, she  knew,  everything  would  be  differect 
Wilsnach  would  be  with  her. 

She  leaned  forward,  listening  for  his  voice.  She 
watched  the  striped  blue  and  white  back  of  the  girl 
in  the  doorway,  vi^uely  wondering  why  the  familiar 


362        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 

accents  had  failed  to  reach'  her  ear.  Then  an  even 
greater  surprise  took  possession  of  her. 

For,  although  she  heard  a  voice,  it  was  the  voice 
of  the  girl  »lone.  And  it  rose  shrill  and  expostu- 
latory  an<*  ■  j  punctuated  by  the  thump  of  the  door 
as  it  wr  iiung  back  and  swung  flat  against  tiie 
papered  wall  She  saw  then  that  for  a  brief  sec- 
ond or  two  a  struggle  had  taken  place,  that  the 
trained  nurse  had  been  sed  to  one  side,  and  was 
now  running  with  little  sous  of  terror  down  the  full 
length  of  the  red-carpeted  hallway. 

But  Sadie  Wimpel's  thoughts  no  longer  centered 
.cm  the  nurse.  It  was  the  towering  figure  which 
stood  just  inside  the  door  that  held  her  attention. 

iThe  discovery  that  it  was  Keudell  facing  Y 
her  passive,  with  a  shadowy  wonder  in  hr; 
That  passivity  was  not  due  to  fear.  It  was  based 
more  on  the  reluctance  of  her  mind  to  accept  the 
totally  unexpected.  She  required  time  to  digest  her 
shock.  She  fotmd  herself  compelled  to  reiterate, 
as  she  stared  at  the  approaching  figure,  that  this 
man  was  not  Wilsnach,  but  KeudelL  And  Keudell 
was  her  enemy.  And  her  eauay  was  Bdvzadag 
upon  her. 

She  could  see  the  smile  of  tritmiph  which  showed 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  363 


his  white  teeth.  Btst  instead  of  depicting  merri- 
ment,  that  shuster  contraction  of  tiie  buccinatoiy 
muscles  seemed  more  like  the  unmasking  of  a  bat- 
tery, seemed  more  menacing  than  even  the  wink 
of  the  polished  metal  of  the  revolver  in  his  hand 
as  that  hand  moved  tqmard. 

She  was  not  crafty,  now,  for  there  aeoned  to 
be  no  time  for  crafting  In  that  austere  Tooment 
of  finalities  she  came  austerely  to  the  point  For 
she  knew  exactly  what  hv  intended  to  do. 

**Yuh  can't  do  it  I"  she  quietly  aniKmnced.  **Yuh 
can't  do  it  and  get  away!" 

This  warning,  ^e  saw,  meant  nothing  to  Keudbl], 
for  Keudell  was  no  longer  a  sentient  and  reason- 
ing being.  He  was  a  blind  accumulation  of  instincts 
harrying  him  to  strike  before  he  himself  could  be 
struck.  His  will  was  a  city  with  all  its  wires  down* 
There  was  no  way  by  which  she  could  send  a  mes- 
sage into  its  stomifStrickai  central  offices.  No  vdoe 
could  reach  him;  no  word  could  strike  home  to  the 
still  judicial  vaults  of  reason.  It  would  be  like 
trying  to  argue  with  a  tiger.  He  would  aet^  and 
act  at  ODct, 

Yet  even  ttgers»  abe  remembered,  Ir  :  been  held 
back  by  mystoy,  fay  a  ttdmf  in  dayli^^  or  a  $st- 


364        JHE  POOR  OF,  PREAD. 


bnnd  at  ni^^  And  the  dapw  of  even  m  nunme, 
she  next  poignantly  remembered,  ndgfat  be  the 
means  of  her  salvatioo-Hnust  be  die  meant  of  her 
salvation,  something  indonyitabie  in  her  cowering 
body  suddenly  called  up  to  her.  And  with  that 
rebound  of  mortal  hope  came  a  retnm  of  gnile»  a 
forlorn  knowledge  that  life  food  and  something 
to  be  f oui^  for  to  die  end. 

"Yiih're  goin'  to  croak  me,"  she  said,  staring 
across  the  shadowy  room  hito  the  face  yrlMi  she 
could  not  distinctly  see.  **But  before  yuh  do  it 
I'm  tellin' yuh  where  your  codes  and  goa  diarts  are. 
The/re  lyin' there  in  dii^  bureaa  diaWa  «Aiiddie 
sttixnanne  plans^™" 

It  was  both  f orlom  and  foolish,  and  the  trudi 
of  this  she  realized  as  her  dty  lips  failed  in  utter- 
ing the  words  themselves.  She  came  to  a  titop,  for 
Keuddl's  ^e  had  fallen  on  her  instruments  of  es^- 
onage  in  the  center  of  the  room.  And  that  discov- 
ery, she  knew,  sealed  her  fote.  There  was  mudi 
bitterness  in  his  guttural  baric  of  a  lau^  for  it  todk 
only  a  glance  for  him  to  realise  the  meaning  of  die 
microphone  and  its  wires. 

'*So  you  got  that  farf  he  said.  And  agahi  his 
.eye  wavered,  caught  as  a  child's  m^xt  be  by  the 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  365 


movements  of  an  automaton,  held  by  the  strange 
sight  of  the  diminutive  figures  moving  about  on  the 
glazed  white  dial. 

This,  apparently,  was  something  new  to  him. 
And  the  mystery  deepened  as  he  took  a  step  or 
two  forward  and  beheld  the  figures  of  his  own  col- 
leagues from  the  periscopic  mirrors  of  the  ap- 
paratus. It  took  on  a  touch  of  the  uncanny,  of 
black  arts  that  defied  explanation.  For  one  vital 
moment  it  arrested  and  held  his  attention. 

There  before  him  he  could  see  the  moving,  breath- 
ing, gesticulating  images  of  his  own  fellow  conspir- 
ators. There  were  the  four  of  them,  Heinold,  An- 
delman,  Breitman  and  Canby.  Avi  even  as  he 
stared  down  at  them  the  drama  on  that  diminutive 
stage  of  mystery  shifted  and  changed.  He  could 
see  the  four  figures  erupt  into  sudden  activity. 
Heinold  caught  at  a  chair-back  and  swung  it  above 
his  head.  Andelman  dropped  low  behind  the  table. 
Canby,  wheeling  sharply  about,  whipped  a  revolver 
from  his  pocket  and  thrust  it  in  front  of  him  with 
a  slight  stabbing  motion.  At  the  same  instant,  from 
below  stairs,  came  the  sound  of  a  shot,  thick  and 
muffled,  synchronizing  with  the  movement  of  the  di- 
ininutive  figure  as  neatly  as  the  off-stage  "business" 


366 


THE  DOOR  OP  DREAD 


t 

of  a  melodrama.  Keudell  could  see  the  thin  cloud 
qf  tmoke  drift  acroM  the  dial-face,  for  a  moment 
obscuring  the  figure*.  But  he  realized,  as  he 
watched,  that  those  figures  were  contending  with 
other  figures,  that  a  circle  of  men  with  poised  re- 
volvers were  closing  in  about  his  four  startled  col- 
leagues, that  Heinold,  who  tried  to  break  through 
this  agitated  yet  constricting  circle,  was  clubbed  back 
and  clapped  into  handcuffs  the  moment  he  fell 
sprawling  across  the  table-legs. 

Keudell  did  not  fail  to  comprehend  the  final 
meaning  of  that  spectacle.  It  meant  defeat  and 
capture  for  the  men  on  whom  he  had  depended. 
It  meant  the  end  of  everything.  But  in  compre- 
hending this  there  yras  one  thing  that  escaped  his 
attention. 

That  was  the  movement  of  Sadie  Wimpel,  who 
had  sat  bent  forward  in  her  chair,  with  her  earnest 
eyes  on  his  face  as  he  advanced  into  the  room. 
It  was  as  his  own  eyes  widened  with  wonder  at 
the  pantoscopic  vision  confronting  him  from  the 
illuminated  dial  that  Sadie,  in  the  shadowy  back- 
ground, slipped  from  her  chair,  bending  low  like 
a  track  runner  awaiting  the  starting  signal,  with 
the  tips  of  her  fingers  almost  touching  the  carpeted 


.  .1 


THE  DOOR  of;  DREAQ  367. 


floor.  But  in  reality  she  awaited  no  signal.  She 
saw  the  still  o|ien  door  and  bolted  for  it. 

She  felt,  all  along,  that  it  was  absurd,  as  absurd 
and  hopeless  as  her  only  too  obvious  lie  about  the 
stolen  gun  charts  being  in  the  bureau  draw  ^ut 
any  movement,  however  foolish  and  f utile,  .  'tow 
better  than  mere  passivity.  To  remain  longer  qni- 
ii^Q^nt  was  out  of  the  question.  Even  a  rat,  she 
reminded  herself,  would  not  die  meekly  in  its  comer. 

She  braced  herself,  mei.tally,  for  some  indeter- 
minate sense  of  bodily  shock,  for  sh?  knew  that 
before  she  could  reach  and  round  that  open  door 
the  leveled  revolver  in  Keudell's  hand  would  be 
following  her  movements.  Yet  the  mere  leap  of 
mind  from  one  plane  of  ought  to  another,  the 
tatrt  act  of  directing  thai  revolver  faarrd  on  her 
body,  involved  at  least  a  ponderaUe  ^aoe  of  time. 
There  woi  lu  be  a  :ions  second  or  tmo,  the  knew, 
before  Keudui  ootdd  cover  her.  And  no  rtrert-cat 
could  have  been  more  ag^le  than  that  white-faced 
girl  who  knew  Ait  was  running  for  her  life. 

Sht  did  iMt  reach  ibe  door  before  the  shdf  rang 
out  Btrt  she  knew,  as  A»  caught  at  the  frame- 
work and  swung  about  into  tfie  hall,  that  the  bullet 
had  failed  to  readi  her,  firmly  as  her  body  had  been 


368        JHE  PCX)R  OF  DREAQ 


braced  to  nxet  its  impuL  She  realized,  with  an 
exultation  whidi  expressol  itself  in  an  unwilled  and 
atavistic  scream  of  trium^  that  Keudell's  first  diot 
had  missed. 

That  shout  was  still  cm  her  lips  when  she  awak- 
ened to  the  fact  that  her  path  along  the  hall  was  al- 
ready blocked.  She  saw,  even  before  she  realized  it 
was  Wilsnach  himself,  that  a  hurrying  body,  running 
toward  the  door,  was  confronting  her  own  as  it 
staggered  away  frcnn  that  portal  of  perils.  She 
thought,  as  she  collided  with  this  figure,  that  it  was 
one  of  her  enemies  frc»n  below  stairs.  Then,  as 
she  realized  it  was  indeed  Wilandi,  a  new  terror 
swej^  through  her.  She  swung  about  and  caught 
at  his  arm  as  he  stundbled  past  her,  readiing  for  his 
revolver  as  he  went  For  she  knew  that  he  must 
be  stopped. 

She  clutched  at  him,  dtmg  to  him,  choking  in  her 
breathless  efforts  to  warn  him  bade  And  ht  ig- 
mind  her  articulate  struggles,  plainly  thinking  her 
a  little  mad,  for  ht  shodc  her  off,  almost  impa- 
tiently. She  was  still  holding  him  bade  by  his  right 
arm,  swung  somewhat  behind  him  in  his  effort  to 
reach  his  hip  podcet,  srhen  Keudell's  huge  figure 
blocked  iht  doorway. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD  369 


She  did  not  actuaUy  see  the  revdver  still  in 
enemy's  hand.  She  was  no  more  consdous  of  it 
than  she  was  of  the  figufes  that  crowded  dose  at 
Wilsnadi's  heels.  All  she  saw  was  the  malignity 
of  Keiidell's  heavy  and  colorless  face.  In  its  slightly 
vacuous  and  fodiidi-lodcing  eyes  she  hdield  <»ily 
ven(»n.  It  was  the  ven(»n  of  ultimate  and  tuirea- 
scming  hate.  And  she  knew  only  too  wdl  what  it 
meant 

At  tiie  same  moment  that  she  wondered  why 
Keudell  did  not  raise  his  weapon  higher,  she  flung 
her  body  against  the  barrel*end  that  had  wavered 
aiui  wheeled  until  it  cei^red  on  Wilaiadi. 

The  shot  did  not  seem  bud  to  her.  Her  one 
fear  was  that  it  would  be  repeated  and  that  with 
the  second  shot  she  mig^t  not  be  able  to  act  as  a 
diield  for  the  man  bdiind  her.  But  tiiere  was  no 
chance  t&r  a  secc»d  shot,  for  a  ni|^<«tidc  of  sea- 
soned ash,  stained  to  look  like  dierry  wood,  readied 
fantastically  over  the  head  of  Wilsnadi  md  smote 
KeuddPs  fingers  dustered  on  the  metal  revolver- 
stock. 

It  was  widded  by  a  policeman,  Sadie  vagc^y 
realized,  a  pdiceman  even  bigger  tiun  Keuddl  him- 
sdf,  ft  pdicemap  whp  seemed  imiiattttaBy  k»f  of 


370 


JHE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


ann  as  he  iH-ought  the  night-stick  down  for  the 
second  tune,  this  time  flat  against  Keudell's  pink- 
flested  skulL  The  sound  was  not  a  pleasant  one, 
but  an  thought  of  it  was  swept  away  by  the  dull 
glory  of  the  knowledge  that  Kcudell  had  fallen,  that 
he  was  on  the  floor,  prostrate,  grotesquely  huddled, 
so  pathetically  mert  that  without  movement  or  pro- 
test he  could  be  jericed  over  on  his  back  and  a  pair 
of  handcuffs  oould  be  snapped  clicking  over  his 
great  wrists. 

Yet  Iwr  triunqth  seemed  overshadowed  by  a  vague 
worry  which  she  could  not  define,  a  worry  keen 
but  inconq>rehensible,  whid*  brought  her  appealing 
eyes  back  to  Wilsnach's  face. 

'*Tkis  ttkman^s  shotf*  she  heard  him  call  out  in  a 
voice  husky  with  alarm. 

She  was  about  to  contradkt  this,  and  contradict 
it  with  vigor,  when  the  found  that  the  words  seemed 
unwilling  to  frame  tfaemsehes  for  utterance.  She 
also  found,  to  her  mild  surprise,  that  Wilsnacfa  was 
holding  her     with  one  arm  about  her  waist 

The  sudden  perplexity  of  her  helplessness  brought 
her  studious  eyes  once  more  back  to  Wilsnach's  face. 
Into  those  eyes  crept  a  pkintive  wonder,  a  dumb 
9nd  animal-like  questioning,  an  unspoken  imploring 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD  371 


for  a  denial  of  what  was  recognized  as  alieadjr  un- 
deniable. The  figures  «botit  her  seemed  to  recede, 
as  though  viewed  from  a  river  ferry  parting  from 
its  slip-edge.  Wilsnadi  akme  remained  dose  to  her» 
so  dose  that  as  her  eye^  seardied  his  fac:  she  ooukl 
see  the  lode  of  pity  on  it. 

Her  wistM  gaze  was  sttll  on  his  f^  ^  a*  ht  lifted 
her  in  his  arms  and  carried  her  into  ^  room.  There 
with  awkward  gentleness  he  plaoed  her  on  dis- 
ordered bed.  She  tfaouj^t,  for  a  moment,  that  he 
was  alone  wit*i  her.  But  she  coold  hear  ^  girl 
in  tiie  nurse's  uniform,  at  the  telephone,  makmg 
patiently  frantic  efforts  to  get  Doctor  WUsoa  on  ^ 
wire.  Then,  as  Wilsnadi  ran  to  the  door  and 
shouted  out  an  order  or  two  to  the  men  groiq^ed 
there,  the  white-faced  girl  in  the  uniform  came  to 
the  bedside.  She  carried  a  pair  of  sdssors  in  Iwr 
hand.  SSxt  ht{;m  cutttng,  rcddess^,  rmnoody,  at 
the  dothing  encompassing  Sa^s  fao^JT.  Jim  lat- 
ter noticed  with  languid  wonder  that  tiie  gi*^  w^s 
crying  softly  to  hersdf  as  slie  wodc  ;1  SI  Jso 
noticed  for  the  first  time  tiiat  the  ciothing  haag 
cut  away  from  her  was  warm  and  wet,  as  thoi^ 
drenched  in  hot  tea.  She  still  wondered  why  iixty 
fdt  scarry  for  her.  Even  the  last  of  the  eoeroed 


m        THE  IXX>R  OF  DREAD 

professional  calmness  went  from  the  girl  with  the 
scissors  as  Wilsnach  dosed  the  door  and  stepped 
back  to  the  bedside. 

"It's  no  use  1"  she  was  saying  in  teary  little  gasps. 
"It's  no  use!  I  know  it's  no  use  I  It's  gone  rif^t 
through—'* 

She  did  not  finish,  for  Sadie,  like  a  sleeper  awak- 
ening to  midnight  alarms,  called  out  with  a  clearness 
and  strength  of  voice  that  was  startling:  'What 
has  happened  to  tnef* 

Wilsnach,  tight-lipped,  turned  to  the  girl  with  the 
scissors.  He  seemed  to  find  something  dependahte 
and  consolatory  in  her  uniform.  He  did  not  actu- 
ally speak,  but  his  eyes  said,  as  plainly  as  words: 
"Is  there  nothing  we  can  do?" 

The  girl  shook  her  head.  Then  she  badced  dowly 
away  from  the  bedside,  in  obedience  to  Sadie's  lan- 
guid gesture.  Wilsnach's  gaze  fdtowed  her. 

**But  Doctor  Wilson—"  began  the  tragi<>eyed 
man. 

For  the  second  time  the  girl  diook  her  head.  '*It's 
no  use,"  she  whispered,  staring  at  her  ensanguined 
fingers. 

Wilsnach  turned  back  to  the  bed.  Then  he  made 
a  dgn  for  the  nurse  to  withdraw. 


THE  DOOR  OF  DREAP 


373 


"I'd  like  to  be  alone  with  her,"  he  said  quite 
simply.  And  Sadie's  gray  face  brightened  like  a 
sick  child's  whose  broken  toy  has  been  glued  to- 
gether. She  did  not  speak  for  a  minute  or  two  as 
Wilsnach  bent  over  her,  pushing  back  the  tumbled 
hair  from  her  white  forehead. 

"Have  we  got  'era?"  she  finally  asked  in  a  whis- 
per. 

"Yes,  yes — ^all  of  them  I"  was  his  bitterly  impa- 
tient reply.  His  hands  dropped,  in  tragic  helpless- 
ness, on  the  stained  bedding.  "But  see  what  it's 
cost  us !" 

Sadie  remained  silent  ag^in,  for  she  could  feel 
the  tears  that  fell  so  foolishly  from  Wilsnach's  eyes. 
They  puzzled  her  a  liitle,  for  he  was  a  man,  not 
given  to  crying  over  trifles. 

"Then  the  case  is  ended?"  she  said  with  a  great 
sigh.  He  could  feel  the  tremor  that  sped  through 
her  body. 

"Yes,  it's  ended,"  he  acknowledged.  The  thin 
ghost  of  a  smile  played  about  her  lips. 

"And  I  guess  I  wasn't  such  a  hum-dinger  as  1 
thought  I  was  goin'  to  be !" 

He  turned  his  head  away,  for  that  wintry  smile 
stabbed  him  to  the  hea  t. 


374        THE  DOOR  OF  DREAD 


"I  tried  to  be  a  three-bagger,  wit'  bells  on.  And 
I  turned  out  to  be  only  an  also-ran !" 

**You*re  the  bravest  woman  I  ever  knew,"  Wils- 
nach  tried  to  tell  her.  "And  instead  of  me  saving 
your  life,  you — " 

He  could  not  finish.  She  smiled  again  as  she 
stared  mistily  up  at  him.  Her  fingers  were  cling- 
ing to  his  arm,  hungrily,  and  she  seemed  to  be  fol- 
lowing her  own  lonely  furrow  of  thought. 

"I  ain't  goin'  to  lose  yuh,  anyhow.  I  might've 
done  that,  yuh  know,  tryin'  to  make  good  and  not 
bein*  able  to.  And  that  would've  been  far  worse 
than— than  this !" 

A  look'  of  contentment  crept  into  her  face  at 
Wilsnach's  impassioned  little  cry  of  "You  could 
never  have  lost  me!"  Then  it  merged  into  a  look 
of  wisdom  touched  with  pity,  for  she  felt  in  her 
secret  soul  of  souls  that  he  was  wrong.  And  her 
fingers  still  clutched  at  him,  as  though  seeking  in 
the  misty  dissolution  of  all  life  some  final  tangibility 
which  might  remain  stable. 

"Will  yuh  kiss  me?"  she  asked,  as  simply  as  a 
child. 

He  kissed  her.   As  he  did  so  he  struggled  to 


THE  DOOR  of:  DREAD 


37S 


control  the  shaking  of  his  body.  He  could  see  that 
she  had  closed  her  eyes.    .    .  . 

"You  must  come  away  now,"  he  heard  a  voke 
say  to  him.  It  was  the  young  nurse  speaking,  once 
more  efficient  and  dry-eyed  and  armored  in  the  im- 
personality of  her  profession. 

Wilsnach's  stricken  eyes,  as  he  looked  up  at  her, 
•were  an  interrogation.  The  girl  in  the  uniform  did 
not  answer  in  words.  But  the  slowly  affirmative 
movement  of  her  head  as  she  crossed  to  the  door 
and  opened  it  was  answer  enough  to  his  question. 


TBS  END 


